Ansel Elgort is headlining another film pulled from the bestsellers list. Variety reports that the actor is set to play Theo in an adaptation of Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch. This comes after Elgort's previous literary roles, though the latest news does have a side of highbrow flair.
Elgort's past work includes 2013's Carrie, adapted from the novel by Stephen King; the Divergent movies, based on a hugely popular YA series; and The Fault in Our Stars, a YA blockbuster written by John Green. While those films are nothing to scoff at, The Goldfinch's combination of terrorism, high art, and family strife is a bit more complex than an apocalyptic near-future.
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The film won't be getting a traditional release, however. Even with a huge name like Elgort involved, the project is a joint effort between Amazon and Warner Bros. In exchange for financing more than a 30% of the film's budget, Amazon will get exclusive streaming rights. Sorry, HBO and Netflix, this Elgort masterpiece won't ever head to the usual channels. Warner Bros. will distribute it to cinemas before that, so it's business as usual for the mega-studio.
Variety notes that The Goldfinch tells the tale of Theodore, "a young man [...] who survives a terrorist bombing at an art museum — an attack that kills his mother." After that tragedy, his life spirals into art forgeries and a life in Vegas with his deadbeat dad. The trade publication adds that Elgort had been looking for a more prestigious project after Baby Driver, hoping to shed the veneer of starring in a super-popular film series.
Elgort has also been cast in Mayday 109, a film documenting an attack on President John F. Kennedy's PT boat during WWII. Nothing like some high-octane Edgar Wright and historical drama to get critics' attention.