Margot Robbie to Lead Bold, Gothic New ‘Wuthering Heights’ Film

Emily Brontë is heading back to the box office. A new feature adaptation of Wuthering Heights is in the works, with Margot Robbie set to headline a version that promises to lean into the novel’s darkest Gothic edges rather than sand them down for a traditional period romance.

A Fierce Classic in a New Adaptation Wave

Published in 1847, Wuthering Heights was Emily Brontë’s only novel—yet it remains one of the most unnerving and fiercely debated works in English literature. Its jagged structure, morally ruthless characters and howling Yorkshire moors have defeated more than a few adapters over the decades.

The 2026 film arrives in the middle of a prestige-lit boom. High-profile projects like a new French take on Dracula (Dracula (2025)) and fresh spins on Hamlet and Sense and Sensibility (Sense and Sensibility (2026)) are all part of a larger trend toward lavish, star-driven reimaginings of 19th-century fiction. We recently rounded up that entire slate—from Brontë to Haymitch’s Hunger Games—in our look at 2026’s biggest book adaptations.

Inside the Cast’s ‘Tricky’ Task

Robbie’s co-stars include Jacob Elordi, whose Heathcliff promises to be more brutal and enigmatic than broodingly romantic. The pair have already been making headlines on the press tour, including for a matching ring Robbie reportedly gifted Elordi—a piece of symbolic jewelry tied to the story’s themes of obsession and haunting connection (People).

Other cast members have been candid about the difficulty of translating Brontë’s dense, stormy prose for modern viewers. In an exclusive interview, Alison Oliver and Hong Chau described finding the right tone as the “tricky part” of the job—how do you keep the cruelty and claustrophobia without losing audiences raised on softer costume dramas? (People).

That tension—between faithfulness and reinvention—has defined many recent adaptations, from Netflix-backed bestsellers to experimental Shakespeare on screen. With Wuthering Heights, the stakes feel even higher: Brontë’s novel isn’t just beloved; it’s foundational.

For readers, this new film is another reminder that the Gothic classics are far from dead. A generation discovering Brontë for the first time through Margot Robbie may go back to the original text and find a story far stranger and more feral than any trailer can show. And if this adaptation lands—with its symbolic rings, windswept rage and unapologetically toxic love—it could help decide how the 21st century reads Emily Brontë’s lone, enduring masterpiece.