Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi Reunite for Emerald Fennell’s Dark New Take on 'Wuthering Heights'

From Warner Bros. Pictures and filmmaker Emerald Fennell, a new feature adaptation of "Wuthering Heights" will bring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi together on screen in 2026, positioning the film as a major early-year release with significant global attention. The project, described as a Gothic erotic psychological drama, reimagines Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel through Fennell’s distinctive, often provocative lens.

Robbie will play Catherine Earnshaw, while Elordi takes on Heathcliff, the intense and often brutal romantic lead whose obsessive love drives much of the story’s turmoil. The casting reunites Robbie and Elordi with Fennell after their previous collaborations: Robbie produced Fennell’s "Promising Young Woman" and "Saltburn", the latter featuring Elordi in a leading role, under her company LuckyChap Entertainment.

Warner Bros. Pictures is positioning "Wuthering Heights" as a major theatrical release, with an international rollout beginning on 2026-02-11 and United States and United Kingdom releases set for 2026-02-13, timed around Valentine’s Day. The film is produced by Emerald Fennell, Margot Robbie, and Josey McNamara, with Tom Ackerley and Sara Desmond serving as executive producers, continuing the creative partnership between LuckyChap Entertainment, MRC, and Warner Bros. Pictures that previously delivered "Barbie".

The supporting cast includes Hong Chau as Nelly Dean, Shazad Latif as Edgar Linton, Alison Oliver as Isabella Linton, Martin Clunes as Mr. Earnshaw, and Ewan Mitchell as Hindley Earnshaw. Younger versions of Catherine, Heathcliff, and Nelly will be portrayed by Charlotte Mellington, Owen Cooper, and Vy Nguyen, respectively, all making their feature film debuts.

The first teaser, released online by Warner Bros. Pictures on 2025-09-03, highlighted the film’s dark romantic tone with the tagline “Drive me mad,” while showcasing flashes of violent passion on the Yorkshire moors. A full trailer followed on 2025-11-13, emphasizing the story as “inspired by the greatest love story of all time” and framing the film as an epic tale of lust, love, and madness. Promotional billboards and a poster that pays homage to the 1939 film "Gone with the Wind" have appeared in major cities including New York, London, and Los Angeles, signaling a broad commercial push.

Composer Anthony Willis, who previously worked with Fennell on "Promising Young Woman", will provide the score, while musician Charli XCX is contributing a full album of original songs tied to the film. Charli XCX released the lead single “House,” featuring John Cale, on 2025-11-10, accompanied by a music video directed by Mitch Ryan, followed by a second track, “Chains of Love,” on 2025-11-13 to coincide with the trailer launch. The collaboration aligns the film with Charli XCX’s established LGBTQ+ fanbase, many of whom follow her closely on platforms such as Instagram: @charli_xcx, and further positions the adaptation within a pop-cultural space that is widely embraced by queer communities.

Fennell’s earlier films have sparked substantial discussion among LGBTQ+ viewers for their portrayals of desire, power, and social performance, even when not centered on explicitly queer characters. In "Saltburn", for instance, critics noted the film’s fluid and ambiguous approach to sexuality and class, which resonated with queer readings in online commentary and criticism. While "Wuthering Heights" has not been promoted as an LGBTQ+-themed film, early reactions from LGBTQ+ commentators on social media have focused on its heightened emotions, outsider narrative, and intense same-gender rivalries, all of which often attract queer interpretations of classic texts.

Development of the project has not been without controversy. In 2024, the decision to cast Jacob Elordi, a white Australian actor, as Heathcliff drew criticism from some commentators who highlighted that the character has historically been read as racially ambiguous in Emily Brontë’s text, with descriptions comparing him to “a dark-skinned gipsy” and “Lascar.” Fennell responded in interviews by stating that Elordi “looked exactly like the illustration of Heathcliff on the first book that I read,” positioning the choice as a personal, text-specific interpretation rather than an attempt at race-blind casting.

For LGBTQ+ audiences and other marginalized communities, such debates intersect with broader conversations about who is allowed to embody “outsider” roles on screen, and how race, class, gender, and sexuality are visualized in prestige cinema. While "Wuthering Heights" centers a cisgender, heterosexual love story as adapted by Fennell and marketed by Warner Bros. Pictures, many queer viewers and critics continue to advocate for casting and narrative choices that meaningfully reflect the diversity of contemporary audiences.

As promotional efforts accelerate in the run-up to February 2026, the film is likely to be discussed not only as a high-profile literary adaptation and potential awards contender, but also as another test case for how major studios and high-visibility filmmakers handle questions of representation and inclusion—issues that remain central for LGBTQ+ people and other underrepresented groups seeking fuller visibility in global cinema.