‘Brooklyn’ Helmer John Crowley To Direct Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer Novel ‘Goldfinch’

EXCLUSIVE: Brooklyn helmer John Crowley has been tapped by RatPac Entertainment and Warner Bros to direct the screen adaptation of Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller The Goldfinch. The film will be produced by Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson of Color Force, along with RatPac’s Brett Ratner, with James Packer executive producer. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy scribe Peter Straughan wrote the script.

The novel focuses on Theo Decker, a 13-year-old New Yorker who survives an accident that kills his beloved mother. Abandoned by his father and unable to mesh in the elite social circle after he’s taken in by a wealthy friend, Decker stays connected to his mother through a small painting that eventually draws him into the art underworld. Courtenay Valenti and Racheline Benveniste are overseeing for Warner Bros.

This is a plum assignment for Crowley, coming at a time when the Irish filmmaker is soaring. Brooklyn, which starred Saoirse Ronan, Domhnall Gleeson and Emory Cohen, was a Best Picture Oscar nominee. Crowley previously directed the films Intermission and the heartbreaking drama Boy A, the latter of which won Crowley the BAFTA for Best Director. Crowley will direct Cate Blanchett in her Broadway debut early next year in The Present, a reimagining of Chekhov’s first play that was adapted by Andrew Upton and will also star Richard Roxburgh. Crowley previously directed A Behanding In Spokane, A Steady Rain and The Pillowman on Broadway.

Crowley had been in contention for several months for Goldfinch. He is repped by WME and Casarotto Ramsay & Associates.