The Goldfinch enthralled readers after its Pulitzer-winning release as an acclaimed novel,
and now it's poised to have the same effect on filmgoers as it arrives in theaters in
2019.
Wondering when you can see it, who's starring in it, and who's behind the camera?
Here's everything you need to know.
Fans of Donna Tartt's work have grown accustomed to waiting — her shortest gap between novels
is the ten-year drought that spanned between her 1992 debut The Secret History and its
follow-up, The Little Friend — so the fact that The Goldfinch has taken six years to
make its way to the big screen is almost to be expected.
"I've tried to write faster and I don't really enjoy it.
I don't enjoy the process of doing it, I've tried to speed up."
But for those who've been eager to see this story brought to life in theaters, that patience
will soon be rewarded: The Goldfinch is scheduled to arrive on September 13th, 2019.
A fall release date for a major motion picture tends to signal the studio's belief that the
film in question could be a contender during awards season.
After blockbuster season fades in August, audiences tend to be in the mood for more
serious fare — and awards voters are also more likely to remember a movie that earned
acclaim later in the year.
Whether this confidence pays off after critics have their say remains to be seen, but this
release date bodes well for the way studio execs feel about The Goldfinch.
When it came time to cast The Goldfinch's main character, Theo, the minds behind the
film knew they would have to cast someone who could shoulder every bit of the protagonist's
intense, harrowing emotional journey — and thanks to a breakout role in a 2017 summer
hit by Edgar Wright, Ansel Elgort ended up nabbing this huge role.
The actor had been making waves for some time, appearing in films like The Fault in Our Stars
and the Divergent film series, but according to Variety, it was his quiet yet emotional
turn in Baby Driver that got him enough attention to book the role of Theo.
Elgort and The White Queen's Aneurin Barnard will serve as the film's two main stars, and
the rest of the cast is appropriately A-list.
Perhaps the biggest name is Oscar- and Emmy-winning star Nicole Kidman, who has won critical acclaim
for everything from Moulin Rouge to Big Little Lies.
You'll also see Emmy winner Sarah Paulson, known for her work on American Horror Story,
as well as recognizable faces like American Horror Story's Denis O'Hare, Old School's
Luke Wilson, and Stranger Things actor Finn Wolfhard.
With the film rights up for sale, Hollywood started vying in earnest for the chance to
score Tartt's first-ever adaptation, and in 2014 — a year after the book's release and
shortly after it won the Pulitzer Prize — a major studio stepped in to purchase the rights
for The Goldfinch.
According to Deadline, the book, which at this point had spent dozens of weeks on The
New York Times' bestseller list, was snapped up by Warner Brothers Studios in conjunction
with RatPac Entertainment.
It made sense at the time for Warner Brothers to pick up the rights, especially since they
had previously purchased the rights to The Secret History, which was never made into
a movie.
With The Secret History still awaiting development and its award-winning successor primed for
the screen, The Goldfinch became the immediate focus.
When it came time to choose a director for The Goldfinch, the studio settled on John
Crowley, an Irish director with a strong background in theater.
Crowley's breakout film came in 2003 with Intermission, which won several filmmaking
awards in Ireland, but he hit even bigger with 2015's Brooklyn, an Academy Award nominee
for Best Picture.
An enormous awards season hit, Brooklyn even won the BAFTA for Best British Film.
Considering Crowley has plenty of experience directing personal yet epic stories that span
years and continents, it seems only appropriate that he would be the right choice for The
Goldfinch, a film which makes its way across the world while still remaining introspective
and personal.
In 2017, Warner Brothers announced that it was teaming up with Amazon Studios to partner
on The Goldfinch, meaning Amazon would invest a significant chunk of the film's budget — reportedly
totaling close to $40 million, according to Variety — in exchange for streaming rights
on their Prime service after the film's theatrical release.
Though many studios aggressively lobbied to be a part of this partnership, Amazon won
out, and that may be due to more than their sizable financial contribution.
Thanks to Manchester by the Sea, an Amazon Studios-produced indie that scooped up multiple
Academy Awards, the streaming service became the first to score an Oscar nomination for
Best Picture, which could only potentially bode well for The Goldfinch's future.
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