The upcoming film adaptation of Wuthering Heights (1847) by Emily Brontë — directed and written by Emerald Fennell, starring Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff — has generated significant controversy ahead of its release.
In the original novel, Heathcliff is depicted as dark-skinned, dark-haired, and of ambiguous or possibly non-white origin — his racial/ethnic “otherness” is part of how he’s treated by the Earnshaw family and society.
Many readers/viewers see this as erasing or whitewashing the character’s racial dimension.
Watch the trailer for Warner Bros. February 2026 release and tell us what you think…
From Warner Bros. Pictures and Academy Award and BAFTA-winning filmmaker Emerald Fennell comes “WUTHERING HEIGHTS,” starring Academy Award and BAFTA nominee Margot Robbie opposite BAFTA nominee Jacob Elordi.
A bold and original imagining of one of the greatest love stories of all time, Emerald Fennell’s “WUTHERING HEIGHTS” stars Margot Robbie as Cathy and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff, whose forbidden passion for one another turns from romantic to intoxicating in an epic tale of lust, love and madness.
The film also stars alongside Oscar nominee Hong Chau, Shazad Latif, Alison Oliver, BAFTA winner Martin Clunes and Ewan Mitchell.
Fennell directs from her own screenplay, and produces alongside Oscar nominee and BAFTA award winner Josey McNamara and Robbie. Oscar nominee Tom Ackerley and Sara Desmond are executive producing.
Behind the scenes, Fennell worked with such frequent collaborators as Oscar- and BAFTA-winning director of photography Linus Sandgren, Oscar- and BAFTA-nominated production designer Suzie Davies, BAFTA-nominated editor Victoria Boydell, award-winning casting director Kharmel Cochrane and BAFTA-nominated composer Anthony Willis.
Oscar and BAFTA winner Jacqueline Durran designed the costumes. Original songs by Charli XCX. Warner Bros. Pictures and MRC Present A Lie Still & LuckyChap Entertainment Production, a film by Emerald Fennell, “WUTHERING HEIGHTS.”
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, the film will be in theaters nationwide on February 13, 2026, and internationally beginning 11 February.
