ELLE
In an era where remakes and revivals are the trend in cinema, the famous Emily Bronte novel “Wuthering Heights” is becoming the newest addition with yet another film adaptation of the book, set to premiere Feb. 14.
The “Wuthering Heights” film was announced with a trailer of the movie Sept. 3, starring “Euphoria” and “Saltburn” actor Jacob Elordi, as well as “Barbie” and “The Wolf of Wall Street” actress Margot Robbie. “Wuthering Heights” is being made under Robbie’s production company LuckyChap Entertainment.
The gothic romance’s main characters, Catherine Earnshaw, played by Robbie; and Heathcliff, played by Elordi, are caught in a passionate and tumultuous relationship set in the late 18th century. The film itself is being released on Valentine’s Day to promote the romantic psychodrama.
This adaptation of the 1847 novel is seemingly taking a different approach to the story than the multitude of other recreations of “Wuthering Heights” in the past. For the upcoming film, electropop singer Charlotte Aitchison–better known as Charli XCX–will be writing the songs. The choice of her for the music in the movie was a surprising and interesting choice to many, as the electronic dance music that Aitchison is famous for does not seem to fit in with the themes of an 1800s novel adaptation.
Past the unorthodox choice in music, the upcoming film has seen more controversy. The lead male character of the novel, Heathcliff, is described in the book as someone who is not white, or at the least of a mixed race background. Though it is not explicitly stated what he is ethnically, it is made fairly clear that he is not a caucasian man, something that Elordi is. Many people have called out this casting as not only untrue to the source material, but also a whitewashing of the character. Regardless of the mixed opinions, people are looking forward to seeing the adaptation, whether it confirms their unease or blows away their expectations.