It was announced last fall that Oscilloscope Laboratories had picked up North American distribution rights to Andrea Arnold's adaptation of Wuthering Heights, with plans to release the film theatrically some time in 2012; although no specific day/month was given.

Since then it's screened at a number of other festivals and special screening events, but still no release date specified… until today!

It's been announced via press release that the film will officially open theatrically in New York on October 5, with a national roll-out to follow. I'm guessing the distributors are considering its Oscar potential.

An epic love story that spans childhood well into the young adult years, the film follows Heathcliff (in Arnold’s version, a black boy), who is taken in by a Yorkshire farmer, Earnshaw. Living in Earnshaw's home on the windswept moors, Heathcliff develops a passionate relationship with the farmer's teenage daughter, Cathy, inspiring the envy and mistrust of his son, Hindley. When Earnshaw passes away, the now-grown characters (played by Kaya Scodelario, James Howson and Lee Shaw) must finally confront the intense feelings and rivalries that have built up throughout their years together.

The film, maybe known more for its casting of a black actor to play "Heathcliff" (portrayed by young British actors Solomon Glave, and James Howson as the adult Heathcliff), made its USA premiere at the Sundance Film Festival early this year, screening in the Spotlight section (and while I was at Sundance, I didn't get to see it, and still haven't). But that will be recitified shortly.

It already opened in the UK, so you folks across the pond should have seen it, months ago actually.

Below is the film's first released trailer, which tells me that, at the very least, regardless of how mixed the reviews have been since its debut last year, this should be a beautiful-looking picture, and I'm guessing one that will sharply divide critics and audiences: