The Goldfinch

The Goldfinch is a 2019 American drama film directed by John Crowley. It was written by Peter Straughan, who adapted the 2013 novel The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. It stars Ansel Elgort as Theodore Decker, whose life changes after his mother dies in a terrorist bombing at a museum and a dying man convinces him to take a famous painting called The Goldfinch from the museum. Oakes Fegley, Aneurin Barnard, Finn Wolfhard, Sarah Paulson, Luke Wilson, Jeffrey Wright, and Nicole Kidman appear in supporting roles. The novel's film rights were sold to Warner Bros. and RatPac Entertainment in July 2014, with ICM Partners brokering the deal. Two years later, Crowley was hired to direct the film adaptation, and Elgort was selected to portray the lead role. Most of the remaining cast joined from October 2017 to January 2018. Filming began in New York City in January 2018 and moved to Albuquerque in April 2018 for the rest of the production. The Goldfinch premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival and was theatrically released in the United States on September 13, 2019, by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was a box-office bomb, with estimated losses for the studio as high as $50 million, and received generally negative reviews that criticised the plot and narrative, though the cinematography and performances received praise. Donna Tartt reportedly hated the adaptation to the point of firing her longtime agent over it, and making it clear she would not sell the rights to any of her work for films again. Plot Thirteen-year-old Theodore Decker's mother is killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. In the aftermath of the explosion, a dying man urges him to take a painting—The Goldfinch—and his engraved ring. Theo is placed into foster care with the Barbours, the family of his best friend Andy. Theo becomes close to Mrs. Barbour, who encourages his interest in antiques and art.