Margot Robbie’s “Wuthering Heights” Aims to Be the “Titanic of a New Generation,” Netizens Mock the Claim

The director of the 2026 version of Wuthering Heights, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, has expressed her hope that the film will become the “Titanic of this generation.” Most netizens, however, are reacting with ridicule.

The film Wuthering Heights is directed by Emerald Fennell and adapted from the novel Wuthering Heights by writer Emily Brontë. This version stars Margot Robbie (Babylon, Barbie) and Jacob Elordi (Saltburn, Frankenstein).

It’s clear that Emerald Fennell has strong faith in her “passion project.” She shared that she hopes Wuthering Heights will become a phenomenon that audiences return to watch multiple times in theaters, just as she once watched Romeo + Juliet eight times in cinemas and cried when she wasn’t allowed to go back for a ninth viewing. The director openly stated her ambition for Wuthering Heights to become the “Titanic of this generation.”

Agreeing with the director, lead actress Margot Robbie also said she hopes audiences will “go watch this movie with ten of their girlfriends.” She added that she believes Wuthering Heights “will be a great date movie.”

However, in contrast to the excitement from the director and lead actress, much of the audience response has been negative. After the trailer and several promotional images were released, many users on social media and film forums argued that this does not feel like Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights.

While the original novel evokes a sense of wildness and harsh desolation, the visuals of the 2026 film version are described as so colorful that they could be called “flashy.” Many sarcastic comments questioned whether this is truly Wuthering Heights or actually a remake-style version of Marie Antoinette — the film about the last Queen of France, famous for its dreamy, pastel-saturated visuals. Margot Robbie’s costumes have also been criticized as “overdone,” unsuitable, and even historically inaccurate.

The intense yet hate-filled and psychologically distorted love story between Catherine and Heathcliff — the two central characters in the original novel — appears in the trailer to be overly sweet, even heavily focused on “steamy” scenes. This has shocked and angered many viewers, especially fans of the original book, who say the film fails to respect the source material.

Facing the backlash, Margot Robbie spoke up to defend the film. She revealed that it is not as “steamy” as audiences assume, but actually more romantic. Robbie said: “This is a grand romantic love story. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a film like this — maybe since The Notebook or The English Patient. You’d have to go back decades to find something similar.”

Even so, many netizens remain unconvinced and continue to criticize the film on social media. Some pointed out that on the movie poster, the title appears in quotation marks — “Wuthering Heights” — instead of simply Wuthering Heights. Based on this detail, they speculate that the filmmakers may be signaling this is a loose reinterpretation inspired by the novel, rather than a faithful adaptation.

“Wuthering Heights”, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, is scheduled for release on February 13, 2026.

Selected Netizen Comments:

• “Did they pay to ride the fame of Titanic, The Notebook, and The English Patient yet?”

• “Titanic is a romantic love story with an inspiring tragedy, while Wuthering Heights is tragic but dark. They are not the same.”

• “This film changed the entire tone of the original — it’s no longer Wuthering Heights.”

• “The original has a gloomy, bleak, and mysterious atmosphere. Just looking at the costumes and setting, you can tell the film failed to capture that. I have a bad feeling about this adaptation. I think it will flop badly.”

• “Margot Robbie praises this movie so much it’s starting to get annoying.”

• “I don’t think Margot and Jacob have the chemistry Leo and Kate had. The Titanic of this generation? Nice dream.”

• “First, Margot Robbie is too old to play Catherine — she looks like an older woman playing a teenage girl. Second, the film looks like it only exploits ‘hot’ scenes. A failed adaptation from the very first steps.”