After Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch became a literary hit in 2014, which included it winning the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Andrew Carnegie Medal, it seemed like only a matter of time before a film version would come. Warner Bros swiftly struck a deal shortly after it was published and an adaptation is coming to the big screen this fall, with Baby Driver’s Ansel Elgort, Nicole Kidman and Sarah Paulson leading the drama.
Check out the intriguing and emotional first look at The Goldfinch with its trailer below:
As a good trailer should, this establishes the tone and interest in the movie without giving too much away about what audiences are in for. Ansel Elgort leads The Goldfinch as Theo Decker, a young man haunted by the day his mother was killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City while he was was 13 years old.
The film’s title references the priceless painting the mother and son gaze upon right before the bombing which Theo takes and keeps with him throughout his life journey chronicled in the film.
The Goldfinch trailer flashes between Theo’s past and present, carefully unraveling his personal tragedy and how it alters his life. He comes across various characters, including a childhood friend named Boris, played by Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard as a kid and replaced by Dunkirk’s Aneurin Barnard as they grow older.
The cast also includes Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Barbour, who is his caretaker for sometime, along with Luke Wilson, who plays his problematic dad who has a girlfriend named Xandra (Sarah Paulson). Westworld’s Jeffrey Wright appears as Hobie, an unlikely friend to Theo during his time of loss.
Along with The Goldfinch having an impressive cast, behind the scenes is John Crowley as director, who previously helmed the Oscar-nominated drama Brooklyn. The script was written by Peter Straughan, whose other credits include Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Frank and The Snowman. The movie was also produced by Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson, who worked on Crazy Rich Asians, American Crime Story and Ben is Back together.
The Goldfinch novel was over 700 pages long, so the movie is tackling a ton of material for one film. It was previously considered for a miniseries, but the project ultimately landed with Warner Bros and Amazon Studios.
The Goldfinch certainly looks to showcase an especially good performance for Ansel Elgort, who broke out in 2014 with his Fault in Our Stars and Divergent roles. The 25-year-old actor will also star in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake coming in December 2020.
The drama is opening alongside crime comedy Hustlers, starring Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Stiles and Lili Reinhart, about a group of former strippers who band together to steal from their Wall Street clients on September 13. Both films will go up against IT Chapter 2’s second weekend at the box office.
Are you excited to see The Goldfinch? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
