ELEVATOR PITCH: An orphan boy raised to be a Park Ave prince is drawn into the danger of the art underworld.
AIMED AT: Mystery lovers looking for something more literary, literary fiction fans looking for a little mystery and Tartt fans hoping she can recapture the magic of 1992's The Secret History in just her third novel in 21 years.
Little, Brown, $30, Oct. 22
Warner Bros. and RatPac Entertainment have closed a deal to adapt Donna Tartt‘s popular novel The Goldfinch.
Nina Jacobson, who brought the project to Warner Bros., and her Color Force production company are producing. Brad Simpson from Color Force will produce along with Brett Ratner (whose latest directorial effort, Hercules, is currently in theaters). James Packer is executive producing.
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Goldfinch centers on a 13-year-old boy who loses his mother in a museum bombing, steals a painting (The Goldfinch, painted by Carel Fabritius in 1654) and then spends his adulthood trying to unravel its mystery. Along the way he gets adopted by a wealthy Park Avenue family, moves to Las Vegas, befriends a colorful Ukrainian, binges on drugs and enters the antiques business with another bombing victim’s partner, and chases the mystery of the painting and his family’s past to Amsterdam.
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Courtenay Valenti and Racheline Benveniste are overseeing for the studio.
This is the second of Tartt’s books to go to Warner Bros., which acquired her 1992 book, The Secret History. Goldfinch is Tartt’s third novel after Secret History and 2002’s The Little Friend.
Tartt was repped by ICM in the deal.