It’s almost a guarantee that book-to-screen adaptations will differ from their inspiration. Now that Emerald Fennell‘s version of Wuthering Heights has reached theaters, fans of author Emily Brontë‘s 1847 novel are noticing quite a few changes. The film stars Hollywood heartthrobs Margot Robbie as Cathy and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff. And in case you’re unaware of their story, it’s not the perfect fairytale.
So, how exactly do the book and the movie compare to each other? Here, Hollywood Life has a breakdown of the differences you can expect on the big screen versus the original text. (Warning: spoilers ahead for the Wuthering Heights movie)
Key Takeaways
- Adaptation Differences: The film adaptation of Wuthering Heights features significant changes from the original novel.
- Main Characters: Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi portray Cathy and Heathcliff in the movie.
- Theatrical Release: The movie was released in theaters on February 13, 2026.
- Cinematic Choices: The film includes more intimate scenes compared to the book’s portrayal of emotions.
How Can I Watch the Wuthering Heights Movie?
Warner Bros. has released the movie in theaters as of February 13, 2026, so fans can watch it on the big screen. A streaming date has not been announced yet, but it’s likely that it will be released on HBO Max in a few months.
What Are the Differences Between the Wuthering Heights Book & the Movie?
The most noticeable differences about the movie are the absence of Cathy’s older brother, Hindley; Cathy’s father is actually a cruel tyrant; the absence of Mr. Lockwood; and, of course, the multiple sex scenes. The book only highlights Catherine and Heathcliff’s tortured, suppressed feelings for each other, while the film shows several intimate scenes. Not only that, but the movie also ends with Cathy’s death, while the book explores Cathy and Edgar’s daughter’s story.
While speaking with Entertainment Weekly ahead of the film’s release, the actress and filmmaker defended the choices she and the crew made for the movie.
“When you look at not just other movie adaptations of this, but Kate Bush’s song, or Balthus’ lithographs, or a lot of the kind of contemporary illustrations, most of them tend to focus on Cathy and Heathcliff,” she explained. “Because I think that’s really the moment that draws to an end in the book. … And I think, really, I would do a mini series and encompass the whole thing over 10 hours, and it would be beautiful. But if you’re making a movie, and you’ve got to be fairly tight, you’ve got to make those kinds of hard decisions.”
About the characters she’d “sort of forgotten or consolidated” into one, Emerald noted that there was “a certain amount of wish fulfillment in there.” She further pointed out how the tragedy of Romeo & Juliet comes into play.
“There are about three different meetings and three different speeches, and so part of it was consolidating that,” Emerald said. “But also, we talk a lot about Romeo and Juliet and, obviously, when we meet Isabella, she’s talking about that kind of story and about that missed thing, and I feel so much that Cathy and Heathcliff’s [relationship] was about missing each other. And so what I did was I brought a lot of the love forward, and a lot of those really important conversations forward, to give them some time so that it didn’t just happen at the end.”
As for why she chose to end the film on Cathy’s death, without exploring anything more in the story, Emerald acknowledged, “It begins where it ends and ends where it begins.”
“And that’s the thing about love, and it’s the thing about the book, right? It’s that it’s forever and it’s cyclical, and so there’s no stop — even when there’s a terrible, sad, tragic stop, it’s not really a stop — because that’s what the book feels so much about,” Emerald concluded. “It’s about the depths of human feeling and how it exists in a profound way, not just a physical one. And so that, I don’t know, that felt like the right way to end it for me.”
