Ansel Elgort stars in the trailer for the adaptation of Donna Tartt's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, West Side Story remake. Before then, however, Elgort's going to lend his talents to the movie version of Tartt's celebrated story.
The Goldfinch tells the tale of Theodore Decker, who loses his mother as a child - after she's killed during a terrorist bombing of an art museum - and gets caught up in a series of adventure in the years that follow, as he struggles to let go of the life that was stolen from him. Scripted by Peter Straughan (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Frank) and directed by John Crowley (Brooklyn), the movie features an impressive cast that includes Nicole Kidman and Jeffrey Wright in key roles, opposite Elgort and Oakes Fegley (Pete's Dragon) as the older and younger Theodore, respectively. With its release date about three months out, the film's marketing is getting up and going this week.
Warner Bros. has now released The Goldfinch trailer online, ahead of its debut in theaters later this week. You can check it out in the space below.
As seen in the trailer, The Goldfinch shifts back and forth between Theo's life as a 20-something man and his experiences right before and after his mother's death. In an interview with USA Today, Crowley said the movie zeroes in on these periods in Theo's life, as a way of effectively compressing Tartt's original novel (which runs a substantial 784 pages long). The director added that The Goldfinch adaptations moves around "a lot more impressionistically" than its source material in that regard, describing it as "a very interesting study in how an individual's relationship to his own past and his sense of his past can shift". Overall, the trailer does a nice job of calling attention to that aspect of the film, without spoiling too many specific plot details in the process.
Moreover, by the sound of it, Crowley and Straughan may've found a way to successful translate Tartt's rich writing into a satisfying cinematic experience here. What works in literature doesn't necessarily make for great filmmaking, so it's good to know The Goldfinch's creatives are willing to change things up and restructure Theorodore's coming of age journey as needs be. WB isn't necessarily banking on this one becoming an awards season contender, but its September release date suggests the studio feels it has the potential to play well with older moviegoers. If nothing else, The Goldfinch seems worth checking out for its talented cast/crew and beloved subject matter alone.
Source: Warner Bros., USA Today
