Wuthering Heights, the novel by Emily Brontë featuring a famous love triangle, was recently brought to the big screen in a new film adaptation starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi (who was nominated for an Oscar for his work in Frankenstein); the film was directed by Academy Award winner Emerald Fennell. The classic 19th-century novel is familiar to many RMA students, as it is required for summer reading for rising sophomores enrolled in Honors English 10.
If you haven’t seen or heard about the movie, you must be living under a rock! Between the 35+ brand collaborations, press tour, and social media campaign, this movie has been marketed and advertised everywhere. Two of the bigger brand collabs were with Bloomingdale’s and H&M, which took inspiration from the film to create a clothing line influenced by its Gothic Romanticism–this translated into dramatic silhouettes, a dark color palette, and textured fabrics.
Adding to the movie’s impact in the fashion world, the red carpet appearances during press tours and premieres showcased the unique and bold aesthetic of the movie, making the film stand out to viewers and furthering its marketing.
The movie’s release date was also part of the marketing strategy, and having it premiere on the 13th of February (Valentine’s Day weekend) proved to be successful. The film grossed around $85 million globally that weekend. It has since exceeded $200 million worldwide (as of mid-March), and despite mixed reviews and opinions, the audience, which skews heavily female–is still putting up strong numbers.
Along with most other book-to-film adaptations, Wuthering Heights has faced praise and criticism over the differences and similarities between the two works, but at least the movie has encouraged fans to refer to the source material, sparking renewed interest in the original novel. Sales for the 1847 text increased 132% after the trailer dropped, and over 100,000 copies of Wuthering Heights were sold in early 2026 alone. To put that in perspective, that is almost the previous year’s total!
The most important thing to know about the book vs. the movie is that while the film focuses on the tragic romance between Catherine and Heathcliff, the book expands on themes of revenge and self-destruction. The novel turns Heathcliff into a near-villain, but the movie paints him and his love for Catherine in a way that leads viewers to pity him. Another way the film was altered for the big screen was by cutting out numerous characters who are central to the book–namely, Catherine’s and Heathcliff’s children (which they have with other partners)–so as to focus exclusively on Catherine and Heathcliff’s relationship.
Ann Cleveland Fisher–a RMA senior who admits she is a sucker for a tragic love story–says that even though she shed quite a few tears, she loved the movie and would definitely recommend it—just bring a box of tissues! I also took my sister, Berkeley (a junior at RMA) to see the movie and we both enjoyed it, agreeing that it was a great movie, even though it was different from the book we read as sophomores.
The movie premiered last month, and if you haven’t gotten the chance to watch it yet, it will remain in theaters for another week or two so that you can decide for yourself which version of Catherine and Heathcliff’s story is better.
