Baz Luhrmann Eyes Jazz-Age Reimagining of Charli XCX's Wuthering Heights Score

Baz Luhrmann never does anything small — and his latest creative fantasy is no exception.

The Australian director behind *Moulin Rouge*, *Romeo + Juliet*, and the 2022 *Elvis* biopic has revealed he wants to create a "jazz age" version of Charli XCX's acclaimed *Wuthering Heights* soundtrack. The idea surfaced during a conversation with Wallpaper magazine, where Luhrmann was discussing a new luxury train carriage he's designing for Belmond's British Pullman with his wife and creative partner, Catherine Martin.

"You'd have to ask Charli if that was OK, but I think it'd be cool," Luhrmann said, floating the concept with the kind of casual audacity that has defined his career.

Charli XCX's *Wuthering Heights* score landed to strong critical reception, with NME calling it "delicious gothic pop for a winter of yearning." The soundtrack leaned into moody, atmospheric production — a sonic world built on brooding synths and Charli's razor-sharp pop instincts. The idea of filtering that through a jazz-age lens feels quintessentially Luhrmann: anachronistic, bold, and dripping with style.

“It's easy to imagine that same transportive quality informing a lush, jazz-inflected reworking of Charli's score.”

It's a move that echoes his signature approach to music in film. Luhrmann has long been obsessed with colliding eras — think Beyoncé and Jay-Z soundtracking 1920s excess in *The Great Gatsby*, or the genre-blending jukebox chaos of *Moulin Rouge*. A jazz-age *Wuthering Heights* reimagining would slot neatly into that tradition, bridging Emily Brontë's windswept Yorkshire moors with the decadence of speakeasies and big-band orchestration.

The train connection isn't incidental either. Luhrmann told Wallpaper that his fascination with "slow travel" and the dreamlike quality of train journeys inspired his latest design venture with Martin. "Trains in particular have a way of putting you in a dream-like state where you forget about the realities around you in the world," he said. It's easy to imagine that same transportive quality informing a lush, jazz-inflected reworking of Charli's score.

Whether this stays a passing musing or becomes a real project remains to be seen. Charli XCX hasn't publicly responded to Luhrmann's comments. But given her well-documented appetite for creative reinvention — from the hyperpop maximalism of *Brat* to the gothic textures of *Wuthering Heights* — it's hard to imagine she wouldn't at least be intrigued.

For now, consider this one filed under "collaborations we didn't know we needed." The ball is in Charli's court.