Will Portman's Departure Wither 'Wuthering Heights'

Not so fast. A few weeks back, we applauded the move to remake Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights and to give the role of Catherine Earnshaw to Natalie Portman. Well now, Portman has backed out of the film, so says Variety, over a scheduling conflict with an unknown project. Portman may have left Heights to pursue A Tale of Love and Darkness, an adaptation she has long earmarked for her feature directorial debut, but her surprise exit leaves Wuthering Heights facing a big ol' question mark. Yes, you can find another actress capable enough to play and suitable for the role of Cathy, who loves her adopted brother Heathcliff but marries another guy, but you can't find another Natalie Portman on every corner. Certainly, if the project keeps forward momentum somehow, the producers, Ecosse Films, will have their pick of actresses who'd love the opportunity to tackle the classic story. But it may not be as easy as calling Keira Knightley or, oh I don't know, Megan Fox, say. Catherine Earnshaw is a weighty, weighty character, and with the rumored casting of British actor Michael Fassbender in the role of Heathcliff, you can understand the need for a sure thing in the role of Catherine. For the record, in the 1939 Wuthering Heights, Laurence Olivier played Heathcliff. Then again, it could be as easy as calling Keira. She was reportedly seriously interested in the role earlier this year, and the film will be directed by John Maybury, who's behind the camera on her upcoming The Edge of Love. As far as Portman is concerned, how do you take a role you want in early April and then in early May back out? Did you just forget you had other stuff going on? And even if you do, it had better be some pretty important stuff to step away from Wuthering Heights.