Peter Straughan to Adapt ‘The Goldfinch’ for Warner Bros.

The film adaptation for Donna Tartt’s 2013 Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Goldfinch has finally locked in Peter Straughan as its screenwriter after a months-long search. Primarily known for The Men Who Stare at Goats and his Oscar-nominated adaptation of Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy, Straughan boasts roots as a playwright and novelist himself.

The Tartt novel, which has been said to capture the modern voice of Charles Dickens, follows a young teenage boy in Manhattan who, after a bombing at The Met takes his mother’s life, escapes with a famous painting called ‘The Goldfinch.” The story spans two decades, during which he spends part of that time with a wealthy family that takes him in.

The film was recently announced as a collaboration between Warner Bros. and director Brett Ratner’s (X-Men: The Last Stand) RatPac Entertainment, and is currently still in development, with roles still waiting to be cast.

With Straughan’s most recent screen adaptation being Oscar-nominated, this bodes well for the outcome of The Goldfinch’s rendering. Once the film sets its director, we will have an even better vision of how the adaptation will come to fruition. In the meantime, Straughan’s script for David Gordon Green’s adapted documentary Our Brand is Crisis starring Sandra Bullock (Gravity) is now being filmed.