Warner Bros. Motion Pictures Group has won the feature film adaptation package of Saltburn filmmaker’s Emerald Fennell take on Wuthering Heights.
Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi are attached to star in the feature project, which hails from MRC and generated intense interest from streamers and studios and a bidding war. Warners won out partially due to its commitment to launching Heights theatrically worldwide.
“We are thrilled to partner with MRC, Emerald Fennell, and LuckyChap for this feature film adaptation of Wuthering Heights,” said Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group’s Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy in a statement. “From the moment we were introduced to Emerald’s vision for the film, and with an incredible cast led by Margot and Jacob, we were instantly committed to forging a partnership with this team to ensure the movie was brought to theaters around the world.”
MRC is financing the project, with LuckyChap, the banner run by Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Josey McNamara and is based at Warners, producing. Fennell wrote the script and will direct and also produce.
Adapting the celebrated novel by Emily Brontë, the package sees Robbie playing Catherine Earnshaw, while Elordi will portray Heathcliff. First published in 1847, the book centers on the tempestuous relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff that encompasses passion and revenge after they meet while living at the eponymous residence.
“From our first conversations with Emerald about Wuthering Heights, we were inspired by her vision to make something that channels the longing and heartache of the novel while adding her distinctive sensibility and beautiful aesthetic,” MRC executives Brye Adler and Jonathan Golfman enthused. “We are thrilled to partner with Warner Brothers and our friends at LuckyChap to help bring Emerald’s film to audiences around the world.”
The deal brings several players back together. Wuthering Heights marks the second collaboration between MRC, LuckyChap and Fennell, after Saltburn, the buzzy drama in which Elordi starred and streamed on Amazon. And it is the third collaboration between LuckyChap and Fennell, who first teamed up with another buzzy drama, 2020’s Promising Young Woman. That movie netted Fennell a best screenplay Oscar and and racked up five Oscar nominations.
English (US) ·