“Baby Driver” Star Ansel Elgort Offered Lead Role in Donna Tartt’s “The Goldfinch” (Exclusive)

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Ansel Elgort has the offer and is in early talks to star in John Crowley’s adaptation of Donna Tartt’s acclaimed novel THE GOLDFINCH, the Tracking Board has exclusively learned.

Warner Bros. and Amazon Studios are co-financing the film, which is expected to carry a budget in the $40 million range. Warners will handle theatrical distribution worldwide, while Amazon will handle the film’s home entertainment launch and stream The Goldfinch on its Prime service.

A representative for Warner Bros. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Warner Bros. and RatPac picked up rights to the Pulitzer-winning book back in 2014, and when the studio began looking for a co-financier, Amazon outbid other players because Tartt’s novel was a big seller online. In addition to producing the film with Color Force, RatPac will also serve as an investor on the project.

Elgort is making a deal to play Theodore Decker, a young man who survives a terrorist bombing at an art museum that claims the life of his mother. From there, he tumbles through a series of adventures that find him living in Las Vegas with his deadbeat father, and later involved in art forgeries.

Recent trade reports have indicated that Ralph Fiennes is being eyed to play Hobie, an antiques dealer who befriends Theo. While there’s no deal in place for Elgort at the moment, I’d be surprised if this one didn’t work out.

Best known for starring in the YA movies Divergent and The Fault In Our Stars, Elgort proved himself as a leading man in Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver, which was one of the most successful movies of the summer. He’ll soon be seen alongside Chloe Grace Moretz in November Criminals and opposite Taron Egerton in the indie Billionaire Boys Club.

Elgort is represented by CAA, Brookside Artist Management and attorney Kevin Yorn.

 Jeff Sneider | Editor in Chief