New Adaptation of Wuthering Heights
Here we go again! This time ITV has commissioned a new adaptation of Emily Bronte's novel. There is another version being planed by the company producing 'Becoming Jane.'
The three-hour adaptation of the nineteenth century novel will be screened either in late 2007 or early 2008, after a series of Jane Austen dramas next year.
It was commissioned by Laura Mackie, ITV's controller of drama, and will be produced by Mammoth Screen, a new independent production company set up by former ITV drama producer Damien Timmer.
The writer is Peter Bowker, who was behind the BBC's 'Blackpool' musical thriller and 'The Canterbury Tales: The Miller's Tale'. It has not yet been cast.
Classic costume drama remains a reliable crowd-puller, with the BBC's recent four-part adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's 'Jane Eyre' attracting 6.7m viewers for its final episode.
ITV has already lined up three Jane Austen novels for next year: 'Mansfield Park', 'Northanger Abbey' and 'Persuasion'.
'Wuthering Heights', the only novel by Charlotte's sister Emily, is a darker tale of the twisted relationship between Heathcliff and Cathy, who comes back as a ghost to haunt her lover.
The last TV version of the book was filmed in 1998 by LWT and starred Sarah Smart and Robert Cavanah. Film versions have starred Ralph Fiennes and Timothy Dalton as Heathcliff, and there are reports of Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie having been lined up to star in a new version.
11 comments:
Johnny Depp as....Heathcliff? Its not a natural pairing to me. Can't picture it....Angela Jolie??? Perhaps an action/adventure movie version of WH?
As for that, it is almost universally considered a rumor. I believe Johnny Depp at least has denied it. News of it cropped up in only one source over a year ago (poke around in the archives and it is sure to turn up). It set off quite a stir but nothing came of it except for some denunciations of Mr. Depp. Personally, I think he has an uncanny way of bringing out characters that would make it very tempting to see, but Jolie... *headaches* Then again, have you SEEN how many people now think Kiera Knightley would make a good choice to play Jane Eyre? I despair, my friend.
Kiera as Jane?? I missed those discussions. Yipes!
only...cathy doesn't return as a ghost to haunt...
oh, forget it. i give up. i'm going to be right over there in the corner. READING A BOOK.
to livvie:
My first instinct was to curl up in a corner as well. This is the company who brought us the worst version of Jane Eyre- if I remember correctly.
it's just so frustrating!
i'd love to see a new version of any bronte story that hasn't been a)sexed up, b)had the dialogue gutted, or c)been given a screenplay treatment that throws the actual story away.
it's heartbreaking to me because i still look at caps from the most recent jane eyre and i'm smitten with how absolutely beautiful it looks. maybe i should watch it with the sound off and play the dialogue from the 73 or 83 versions over it.
as of now i've think i've sworn off any new adaptations.
We are at the mercy of these people. But I have yet to see a decent adaptation of 'Wuthering Heights' - maybe I missed one?
As I have said many times to anyone who will listen, if these adaptations get people interested in the books then they have some value. And sometimes, SOMETIMES, they can even have some value in their own right!
Casting is key, but I confess myself rather impressed with Ms Knightley's efforts in P&P2005, so I'm prepared to be pleasantly surprised as well as horribly disappointed. Can't see her as Jane Eyre though.
I am with livvie on this... The more clips of the 2006 Jane Eyre I see, the more I long (good G-d! never thought I'd use that word but here it is) for a screen adaptation where the dialogue is not trivialized to the point that the story begins to resemble a dime novel... And G-d forbid they have Keira Knightley (a.k.a. "the incandescent Mrs Darcy") anywhere near the English literary canon again! She can perhaps bend it like Beckham and be a plausible pirate but to be a Jane or Elizabeth one must needs to act.
BTW, what is "Becoming Jane"?
I am horrified by the rumored cast list but I would like to see an adapatation of this novel with lots of the literature from the book. There is some great British talent out there who should be considered for the main roles if they set it in the Victorian era. Lets hope they don't do what MTV did a few years ago. Plus with the 'success' of Jane Eyre 2006, you knew it would just be a matter of time.
I was wondering when this would happen seeing as Jane Eyre seemed to do so well. Still, we've not had one for a while, and I've still not seen one I was completely (remotely?) satisfied with. And perhaps a little more Bronte is needed to counter-balance the forthcoming Austen onslaught. I wonder if they could be persuaded to make Villette now...
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