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The Goldfinch on course to be one of biggest flops in cinema history

Film grossed less than $4m in its opening weekend at the US box office

Jacob Stolworthy
Monday 16 September 2019 07:15 EDT
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The Goldfinch - Trailer 2

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The Goldfinch is on course to be one of the biggest flops in cinema history.

Last week, damning reviews of Warner Bros’ high-profile adaptation of Donna Tartt’s 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winning book branded the film “disappointing”, ”bland” and “a gigantic waste of time” – and now the box office sales in the US have crushed any hope of success.

The film opened wide on 2,542 screens in America and grossed just $2.6m (£2.1m), which – according to Box Office Mojo – makes it the sixth worst opening for any film debuting on more than 2,500 screens. It reached number eight in the top 10 at the box office this weekend and has since amassed an additional $1m (£803,000).

Directed by John Crowley (Brooklyn), The Goldfinch follows a boy who is taken in by a wealthy family after his mother is killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Its high-profile cast includes Ansel Elgort, Nicole Kidman, Jeffrey Wright, Sarah Paulson, Luke Wilson and Stranger Things actor Finn Wolfhard.

Projections for the film’s opening weekend sat at the $5m-$8m (£4.5m-£6.4m), which it failed to meet. In comparison, Hustlers – the acclaimed drama starring Jennifer Lopez – grossed $33.2m (£26.6m) from 3,250 screens.

Find a list compiling all the books that should never have been made into films here.

The Goldfinch will be released in the UK on 27 September.

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