Wuthering Heights will not be featuring one of director Emerald Fennell’s most frequent collaborators. Fennell previously helmed the 2020 revenge movie Promising Young Woman, for which she won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, and the 2023 dramedy thriller Saltburn, which was nominated for two Golden Globes. Her upcoming Wuthering Heights adaptation, which premieres on February 13, 2026, will star Margot Robbie as Catherine and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff alongside an ensemble that also includes Hong Chau, Shazad Latif, and Alison Oliver.

Per Variety, Carey Mulligan – who played the lead character in Promising Young Woman and turned in a memorable supporting performance in Saltburn – will not be reuniting with the director for Wuthering Heights, which she says is currently in production. Mulligan, who is busy shooting Beef season 2, shared this announcement at the Variety Studio at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival with some regret, though she said that she hopes that she can appear in “all of [Fennell’s films] in the future.“ Read Mulligan’s full quote below:

Not on this one. She’s shooting now. But hopefully all of [Fennell’s films] in the future. I would love that.

What This Means For Wuthering Heights

The Cast Is Still Exciting

It seems like the fact that Fennell could not feature Carey Mulligan in the Wuthering Heights cast is a missed opportunity. Even though the lead role has already been filled, the original Emily Brontë novel contains quite a few supporting characters that Mulligan would have probably brought to life with aplomb, had she been able to join the production. Even with the secondary female roles of Nelly Dean and Isabella Linton being taken by Chau and Oliver respectively, there are still other characters she could have played in a cameo appearance.

However, the movie does feature multiple reunions between Emerald Fennell and other previous collaborators. While this is the first of the director’s movies to star Margot Robbie, Robbie produced both Promising Young Woman and Saltburn in addition to co-starring with Fennell in the 2023 smash hit Barbie, in which the director played a minor supporting role as Midge. Additionally, Jacob Elordi was one of the lead stars of Saltburn, so Wuthering Heights marks their second collaboration.

Our Take On Carey Mulligan’s Absence From Wuthering Heights

She Can Still Return To Emerald Fennell’s Filmography

Although her commitments to Beef season 2 have seemingly prevented her from making an appearance in Wuthering Heights, this does not mean that Mulligan will never again appear in an Emerald Fennell movie. In fact, her absence from the Brontë adaptation could make their eventual reunion that much sweeter because there will have been more time between Saltburn and their next collaboration than there was between Promising Young Woman and Saltburn, allowing audiences to miss her presence in Fennell’s movies.

Source: Variety