'Wuthering Heights' Goes 'Twilight'

Just the other day, we wrote about a Twilight-ified version of Little Red Riding Hood finding a home at Warner Bros. Twilight's Catherine Hardwicke is in line to direct for producer Leo DiCaprio, and Amanda Seyfried is the top choice to play Red. Not bad.

But the trend seems to be expanding to another classic. Deadline reports that Wuthering Heights, a film that has already had a few behind-the-scenes changes, might be getting another facelift to look more like Edward and Bella. First, it supposedly had Natalie Portman attached, along with Michael Fassbender. Then came Bond girl Gemma Arterton and Gossip Girl's Ed Westwick. In the months since then, the film hasn't moved forward. In fact, it's been moving backwards. The project is now on its third director and it looks like it will need a third Heatchliffe and Catherine. Oh, and it has to find them in the next two months, because filming is supposed to start shooting in April in the UK. Why bother?

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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.

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Natalie Portman Set to Star in 'Wuthering Heights'

It was literally less than 72 hours ago that I was discussing with my cinephile father movies that have never been made: Atlas Shrugged (which is on the horizon), A Catcher in the Rye, Don Quixote, etc.

Then the subject of movies that need to be remade came up, and we both agreed that the time is right for A Tale of Two Cities, and then he suggested Wuthering Heights.

How weird is it that my dad and Natalie Portman are on the same wavelength?

The stunning Ms. Portman will star in a long-overdue new version of the classic novel by Emily Bronte. The film will be produced by the period drama-friendly Ecosse Films, whose past projects have included Mrs. Brown, Becoming Jane and another upcoming revamp of Brideshead Revisited, sort of a Brideshead Revisited Revisited.

Variety reminds us that there was a Wuthering Heights back in 1989 with Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche, which was able to rake in a whopping $624,000 19 years ago.

William Wyler is responsible for the iconic film version of the story, and even though it stands the test of time, surely after 70 years, some more attention can be paid to Bronte's classic.

Here's a question for you, though: What other literary classic should be made or remade? My top five would be A Tale of Two Cities, a Pixar Animal Farm, a resurrection of Sherlock Holmes for a possible trilogy or more, Slaughterhouse Five and Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man.