Jeffrey Wright is in negotiations to play Hobie in in Warner Bros. and Amazon Studios’ movie adaptation of “The Goldfinch.”
Ansel Elgort will portray Theo and “Dunkirk” actor Aneurin Barnard is Boris in the film from director John Crowley. Warner Bros. had no comment on the casting.
Based on Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “The Goldfinch” follows a young man named Theodore Decker who survives a terrorist bombing at an art museum — an attack that kills his mother. From there, he tumbles through a series of adventures that finds him living in Las Vegas with his deadbeat father and, later, involved in art forgeries.
In the book, Hobie is Welty Blackwell’s partner, who is Pippa’s legal guardian. Hobie eventually provides a stable life for Theo.
Earlier this year, Amazon Studios agreed to co-finance the film, which will go into production at the beginning of 2018. As part of the pact, Amazon will invest more than a third of the movie’s budget, which is estimated to be in the $40 million range, according to insiders. In return, it will get streaming rights to the picture on its Prime service. It will also launch the movie on home entertainment platforms.
Warner Bros. will distribute the film in theaters worldwide.
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Wright was most recently in HBO’s “Westworld” as Bernard, which earned him an Emmy nomination in the supporting actor category. Season 2 is currently in production and Wright is expected to reprise his role.
He is repped by CAA.
