Hopes were high for the big-screen adaptation of Where the Crawdads Sing, the 2018 best-seller by Delia Owens set in the coastal marshland of North Carolina.

Starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, produced by Reese Witherspoon (who also gave Owens' debut novel an incalculable boost by making it one of her book club selections) and featuring an original song by Taylor Swift, the movie headed to theaters July 15 with an impressive pedigree and a built-in fandom.