Another Wuthering Heights controversy? In Sydney, Margot Robbie responds to the outrage

Sydneysiders in the know had two reasons to flock to George Street on Thursday: to be among the first in the country to shop Hailey Bieber’s billion-dollar beauty brand, Rhode, at Mecca, or lock eyes with Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi on the blue carpet as they unleashed “Wuthering Heights” upon Australian cinemagoers.

Fans have anticipated both events for months. But only one has united critics and the masses in outrage before its actual release – and of course it’s the product from the mind of Oscar-winning provocateur Emerald Fennell, of Promising Young Woman and Saltburn notoriety.

“I suppose you can assume that’s going to happen, particularly when you’re making a bold interpretation like [Fennell’s] version of ‘Wuthering Heights’ is,” Robbie told this masthead at the State Theatre on Thursday night, where she and Elordi – both Sunshine State natives – had brought the miserable weather from Yorkshire’s moors in a cherry on top of their “method” press tour. Hollywood A-listers also joining them on the blue carpet were Hailey Bieber and Australian actor Sarah Snook.

“There’s going to be mixed opinions for sure, but we just weather the storm and wait for people to see the movie, and they can make up their minds for themselves,” Robbie continued.

Robbie and Elordi’s attempt to make life imitate art across interviews and with, in the case of a $12 million “Taj Mahal” diamond necklace, bold sartorial choices in Los Angeles, Paris and London has baffled and scandalised netizens since late January.

Elordi, in true Heathcliff fashion, filled Robbie’s room with roses on Valentine’s Day during filming. Ever the Catherine Earnshaw in real life, as Robbie would have us believe, she did not return the favour (“What did I do for you?” she asked Elordi in front of Vogue Australia. “I don’t think you did anything,” he responded).

After three days on set with Elordi, Robbie told Fandango, she felt “quite lost, like a kid without their blanket” when he wasn’t within her sight line. Weeks later, in a move that demonstrated Robbie’s awareness of how much the co-stars’ Tour de Codepency had given social media users a dose of the ‘ick’, she told British Glamour it had been “taken out of context and blown way up.” Ironically, the reception is not unlike what greeted the film’s source material in 1847.

Perhaps it’s not about whether Robbie – who is married to producer and LuckyChap Entertainment co-founder Tom Ackerley – and Elordi can actually convince the world their twisted mutual devotion exists once the cameras cut.

The polarising reactions to the press tour, Robbie told this masthead, was “not part of the strategy”. But if the duo’s aggressively pedalled behind-the-scenes chemistry can sustain the “greatest love story of all time” on screen (however toxic Heathcliff and Cathy’s quasi-incestuous relationship is) is a question that can only be answered after buying a ticket at the box office.

The same could be said for whether Fennell’s adaptation is faithful to Emily Brontë’s debut novel, were it not for the quotation marks hugging the film’s title, hyper-pop star Charli XCX anchoring the soundtrack, Cathy’s PVC costumes and Elordi’s whitewashed Heathcliff casting. And yes, those four qualities are considered red flags for Wuthering Heights purists on social media.

Online rhetoric, however, is not necessarily a mirror of what’s happening face-to-face. Among the gawping and giggling onlookers held back by concrete barriers was Narelle, an English teacher of 15 years with a particular love of Gothic literature, and her 20-year-old daughter, Allysa.

“The best Romeo and Juliet is Baz Luhrmann’s, so this is going to be the best ‘Wuthering Heights’ because it’s a modern interpretation,” Narelle said, highlighting Fennell’s tendency to cater for the female gaze.

“The minute you turn anything into a film, it can’t be a faithful adaptation because we’re not living in Brontë’s time. We’re living in 2026.”

According to Deadline, Warner Bros. is eyeing an at least $US70 million ($98 million) globally at the box office this opening weekend. Elordi, whose only statement to the crowd inside the premiere was one that sung Robbie’s praises, clearly knows wooing the fans, perhaps more than his co-star, is key to getting them there.

Leaping behind the press line to speak with a small group of office workers gathered in the building next to Sydney’s State Theatre, he posed for a selfie with 13-year-old superfan Lara. She had come to visit her mother at work, and was leaving with a selfie with one of the biggest stars in the world.

Starstruck, the schoolgirl summarised her evening in three words: “It was very exciting.”

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