Ansel Elgort finds his next lead role in ‘Goldfinch’ adaptation

After teaming up for a co-production on the adaptation of Donna Tartt’s acclaimed novel The Goldfinch, Warner Bros and Amazon Studios look to be moving closer to getting the film off the ground by tapping Ansel Elgort to star.

Director John Crowley had been meeting with several candidates for almost two months before finally handing Elgort the role of Theo.

Warner and RatPac had picked up rights to the Pulitzer-winning book back in 2014. RatPac is also an investor in the film as well as a producer.

Goldfinch, which earned critical raves for its Dickensian plotting, tells the story of a young man named Theodore Decker who survives a terrorist bombing at an art museum – an attack that kills his mother.

From there, he tumbles through a series of adventures that finds him living in Las Vegas with his deadbeat father and, later, involved in art forgeries.

Earlier this year, Amazon Studios agreed to co-finance the film, which will go into production at the start of 2018.

As part of the pact, Amazon will invest more than a third of the movie’s budget, which is estimated to be in the US$40mil (RM169.1mil) range, according to insiders.

In return, it will get streaming rights to the picture on its Prime service. It will also launch the picture on home entertainment platforms in what is commonly referred to as the pay-TV window, the term for when movies debut on premium cable channels such as HBO and Showtime.

Warner Bros will distribute the film in theatres worldwide.

Elgort has taken his time in finding his next project following his star-making role in this summer’s surprise hit Baby Driver. Sources say the actor was looking for something on the prestige level after coming off his commercial hit and had considered an adaptation of The Finest Kind, which Brian Helgeland was planning to direct.

He did recently attach himself to play young John F. Kennedy in the war pic Mayday 109, which tells the story of how Kennedy’s PT boat came under attack during World War II.

He can be seen next in The Billionaire Boys Club opposite Taron Egerton. – Reuters/Justin Kroll

In Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver, Ansel Elgort (left) shares the screen with Jamie Foxx, Eiza Gonzalez and Jon Hamm. Photo: Sony Pictures

advertise
advertise
advertise

top navigation

advertise