We love a big epic book, and we love big epic adaptations of those books as well, so we’re thrilled to see The Goldfinch will be hitting our screens soon.

Based on Donna Tartt’s 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, the film will be released later this year, and Warner Bros. and Amazon Studios have just released a new trailer for the upcoming adaptation.

Poignant music, plentiful emotions, and a dramatic scene in a museum are all ahead.

Here is everything you need to know about what is one of the year’s most anticipated films.

The book was huge — in all senses

Donna Tartt has only authored three novels, but each has been hefty in size and in themes and plot.

The Goldfinch was released in 2014, more than 10 years after her previous novel The Little Friend, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2014. Although critical reception was mixed — some reviewers loved it, others not so much — it still sold well.

What’s the story?

The book tells the story of Theo Decker, beginning when he is 13 years old. The son of a devoted mother and absent father, Theo survives an accident in a museum that otherwise tears his life apart. Taken in by the family of a wealthy friend, Theo is tormented into adulthood by longing for his mother. Eventually, he finds himself drawn into the criminal underworld by a captivating painting that connects him to his mother — a painting of a goldfinch.

Watch the trailer for the film

The first trailer introduces us to all the main characters, although the identities of most are kept mysterious for the moment. What we do get is a glimpse into Theo as a child and an adult, a clear shot of the goldfinch painting, and of course, the explosion that changes Theo’s life forever.

In the second trailer, we get a further insight into Theo’s childhood, which was upended when his mother Audrey was killed in a terrorist bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We also learn that in the ensuing chaos, Theo takes the precious 1654 Carel Fabritius painting, The Goldfinch.

The trailer briefly touches on the relationships that develop in the aftermath of the tragedy, with Samantha Barbour, the socialite who welcomes him into her home, his mentor James Hobart, and his close friend Boris Pavlikovsky.

The film has a stellar cast

Ansel Elgort plays the older Theo, a brooding but boyish character who is still partially stuck in the past.

We’re really excited about the women in the supporting cast, including Big Little Lies’ Nicole Kidman as Samantha Barbour, the socialite mother of the schoolfriend who takes Theo in.

Joining Kidman is Sarah Paulson as Xandra, the girlfriend of Theo’s dad Larry (Luke Wilson), who whisks Theo from the life he’s known in New York and over to Las Vegas.

One face who might be a little unfamiliar is Ashleigh Cummings, who plays Pippa, a girl Theo sees briefly in the museum as a child and becomes infatuated with. Cummings’ previous roles include Dot in the TV series Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.

Also in the film are Jeffrey Wright as Hobie, the owner of the antiques shop where Theo works, and Finn Wolfhard of Stranger Things as the young version of Boris, a friend Theo makes in Las Vegas.

There are plenty of interesting people behind the scenes too

We’re used to seeing the major studios producing big films, but the new streaming guys on the block have been catching up. The Goldfinch sees the old and new guard come together — it’s a project by Warner Bros and Amazon Studios.

The screenplay has been written by Peter Straughan, who has a record of adapting books for the big and small screen. He worked on the TV series of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, and the films Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy, based on the book by John Le Carre, and The Snowman, based on the book by Jo Nesbo.

The Goldfinch is directed by Irish director John Crowley, who directed the adaptation of Colm Toibin’s Brooklyn, starring Saoirse Ronan, while the film was shot by legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins, who won an Oscar for his work on Blade Runner 2049. 

When can we watch it?

The Goldfinch will be released in the UK on 27 September and the US on 13 September. The film will also premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival on 5 September prior to its theatrical release. In the meantime, watch the latest trailer below.

Images: Warner Bros/Amazon Studios