thenormalheart-movie:

TBL: When we talked earlier this year, you said you didn’t know if you’d be a part of The Normal Heart film. Any change in that?

JBH: No. I’ve heard that I’m going to be in a different part that I played. Matt Bomer is playing the part I played in New York. He’s a phenomenal choice for it. That’s a great casting. He and Mark Ruffalo, I just think that’s a brilliant pair for those parts of the movie. But I’ve been told that I’m going to be part of it, it’s not official but I would love to be because God knows I love the material, I love Larry [Kramer], I think they’ve gotten a great cast together and it would be great to revisit it from a different perspective.

I’ve also built a relationship with Ryan Murphy because I’ve been doing The New Normal. I just loved him. I love Ryan’s sensibility…talk about somebody who thinks kind of outside the box. I think Ryan’s a really big risk taker and is kind of fearless that way and I think that’s what this as a movie needs. [ x ]

thenormalheart-movie:

“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Ryan a couple of times already and we’re currently in pre-production on ‘The Normal Heart.’ Ryan could have made any movie he wanted, and he chose to tell Larry Kramer’s groundbreaking story that is as important and relevant now as it was in 1982, once again starting conversations.” - Matt Bomer  (Glaad Media Awards) [x]

thenormalheart-movie:

Tony Award winner Joe Mantello, who starred in the acclaimed Broadway debut of Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart, has joined the cast of Ryan Murphy’s film adaptation of the landmark AIDS drama, Playbill.com has learned.

Mantello portrayed Ned Weeks in the 2011 Broadway premiere of Kramer’s 1985 play that documents the dawn of the AIDS crisis in New York City. Mantello will appear as Mickey Marcus, with the previously announced Mark Ruffalo as Ned Weeks.

Mantello is represented on Broadway this season as the director of the one-woman Bette Midler play, I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat With Sue Mengers. His numerous directorial credits include The Other Place, Other Desert Cities, Dogfight, Assassins, Wicked and Three Days of Rain.

Directed by Emmy winner Ryan Murphy (“Eat Pray Love,” “Glee”), the film is scheduled to begin production in New York City this summer for a 2014 debut on HBO. Kramer has adapted his play for the upcoming film.

Academy Award winner Julia Roberts is cast as Dr. Emma Brookner, with Matt Bomer as Felix Turner, Taylor Kitsch as AIDS activist Bruce Niles, and Jim Parsons reprising the role of Tommy Boatwright that he played on Broadway.

Executive produced by Murphy, Jason Blum, Dede Gardner and Dante Di Loreto, “The Normal Heart,” according to press notes, “tells the story of the onset of the HIV-AIDS crisis in New York City in the early 1980s, taking an unflinching look at the nation’s sexual politics as gay activists and their allies in the medical community fought to expose the truth about the burgeoning epidemic to a city in denial.”

Kramer’s play debuted at New York’s Public Theater in 1985. The 2011 Broadway revival garnered five Tony nominations, winning for Best Revival, Best Featured Actor and Best Featured Actress. [X]

The Normal Heart - Movie: Ryan’s ‘Heart’ in NY →

thenormalheart-movie:

Glee” creator Ryan Murphy is in New York scouting locations for his highly anticipated film adaptation of Larry Kramer’s Tony-winning “The Normal Heart.” But, Murphy said, keeping settings authentic is a challenge. “We’ve been to all the historical places,” he told us of the ’80s-set story about…

thenormalheart-movie:

The Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons and Friday Night Lights alum Taylor Kitsch will co-star opposite Julia Roberts, Mark Ruffalo and Matt Bomer in The Normal Heart, HBO’s original movie adaptation of the Tony-winning Larry Kramer play, which is being written by Kramer and directed by Ryan Murphy.

The project tells the story of the onset of the HIV-AIDS crisis in New York City in the early 1980s.

Jim Parsons plays gay activist Tommy Boatwright, reprising his role from the 2011 Broadway revival. He was previously attached to Murphy’s adaptation when it was eyed as a theatrical feature.

Kitsch plays Bruce Niles, a closeted investment banker who becomes a prominent AIDS activist.

Roberts plays Emma Brookner, the paraplegic physician who treats several of the earliest victims of the disease. Ruffalo plays Ned Weeks, who witnesses first-hand the mysterious disease that has begun to claim the lives of many in his gay community and starts to seek answers. Bomer plays Felix Turner, a reporter who becomes Ned’s lover.

Murphy executive produces with Jason Blum, Dede Gardner and Dante Di Loreto. Production is slated to begin later this year in New York City for a 2014 debut. [X]

thenormalheart-movie:

“It’s essentially about the beginning of the AIDS crisis and the first people to raise their voice to acknowledge the disease and get something done about it, I play a character called Felix Turner, who works at the Style section of The New York Times and gets into a romantic relationship with Ned Weeks [Mark Ruffalo] and is eventually stricken with the illness and they’re sort of battling through it together. It’s a real testament to unconditional love.” -Matt Bomer [X]

“The New Normal” is back (Tuesday, December 8 at 9:30 p.m. EST on NBC), and the Ryan Murphy comedy is certainly starting 2013 the right way with guest appearances from “White Collar” star Matt Bomer and comedian Michael Hitchcock.

HuffPost TV was on set for the filming of the episode, titled “The Goldie Rush,” where Bomer and stars Andrew Rannells, Justin Bartha, Georgia King, NeNe Leakes and Bebe Wood previewed what viewers can expect, how they feel about the One Million Moms boycott, and which reality series helped one of them prepare for a scene. We also talked to Bomer about his role in Ryan Murphy and HBO’s recently announced film “The Normal Heart,” which will air in 2014.

Spoilers ahead.

In “The Goldie Rush,” Bomer plays Monty, one of Bryan’s (Andrew Rannells’) former exes. “He used to be a party guy, very much didn’t want to settle down, didn’t want to have kids, and now he’s starting a new chapter in his life where he does want to settle down,” Bomer previewed. “He runs back into Bryan and David [Justin Bartha] and they have the life that he wants, so he sort of latches on to them and tries to enlist their help to try and find someone to be with and investigate the whole surrogacy process. Then he meets Goldie (Georgia King) and is really besotted with her and tries to infiltrate that ground and tries to enlist her to be his surrogate, and the guys aren’t really having that.”

“It’s a very funny episode,” Rannells promised. “Michael Hitchcock [Gary, the head of Bryan and David’s surrogacy firm], who is hilarious, he’s also in the episode this week, which is always a treat when he comes and joins us, and great to have Matt. Matt and I have known each other for a very long time from New York, so it’s nice to have him here.”

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thenormalheart-movie:

As first reported exclusively by BroadwayWorld.com back in November of 2012, it’s now official that Academy Award winner Julia Roberts and Academy Award nominee Mark Ruffalo will star in the HBO Films drama THE NORMAL HEART, directed by Emmy winner Ryan Murphy (“Eat Pray Love,” “Glee”), it was announced today by Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming. Slated to begin production in New York City later this year for 2014 debut on HBO, the film is written by Larry Kramer, adapting his groundbreaking Tony Award-winning play of the same name.

“We are so proud to be involved with this monumental project,” said Lombardo. “Ryan has assembled an extraordinary cast to bring Larry Kramer’s landmark theatrical achievement to the screen for the first time, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to bring this important film to HBO.”

Executive produced by Ryan Murphy, Jason Blum (the “Paranormal Activity” series, “The Reader”), Dede Gardner (“The Tree of Life,” “Eat Pray Love”) and Dante di Loreto (“Glee,” HBO’s “Temple Grandin”), THE NORMAL HEART tells the story of the onset of the HIV-AIDS crisis in New York City in the early 1980s, taking an unflinching look at the nation’s sexual politics as gay activists and their allies in the medical community fought to expose the truth about the burgeoning epidemic to a city in denial.

Roberts plays Dr. Emma Brookner, the paraplegic physician who treats several of theearliest victims of the disease. Ruffalo portrays Ned Weeks, who witnesses first-hand the mysterious disease that has begun to claim the lives of many in his gay community and starts to seek answers. Matt Bomer (“White Collar,” “Magic Mike”) plays Felix Turner, a reporter who becomes Ned’s lover.

In 1981, writer Larry Kramer hosted a gathering of six gay men and their friends to discuss the “gay cancer,” and to talk about fundraising for research. This informal meeting in Kramer’s home would lead to the formation of Gay Men’s Health Crisis, one of the first advocacy groups for HIV prevention and care. [X]

thenormalheart-movie:

Ryan Murphy, creator of such television shows as GLEE, American Horror Story, and The New Normal, has been hard at work on bringing the Tony-winning play THE NORMAL HEART to the big screen. It was announced back in January of 2012 that Julia Roberts, Alec Baldwin and Jim Parsons would join Mark Ruffalo in the cast of the film, with a script by playwright Larry Kramer and directed by Ryan Murphy who had optioned the play back in August of 2011 after it closed on Broadway. At the time, it was also reported that CAA was putting together the financing, and that it was to be produced by Brad Pitt’s ‘Plan B’ Production Company.

Now, a cable network insider tells BWW’s Rialto Chatter exclusively that the film will instead be an HBO television production, with a budget in the neighborhood of $15 million dollars. There is no word yet on a timeline for the project, or if the previously announced starry cast is staying aboard the project.

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thenormalheart-movie:

Mr. Murphy responded by reading a scene from his screenplay of Larry Kramer’s “The Normal Heart,” which he hopes will be in theaters by this time next fall, with proceeds from the premiere going to GLWD. “Picture Mark Ruffalo as Ned and Matt Bomer as Felix,” Mr. Murphy said. [X]

THR: Your next project is Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart, about the rise of the HIV-AIDS crisis in early 1980s New York, which you pursued aggressively. Why?

Murphy: It was a property that I paid for out of my own pocket and then I fought to get it made. It scares me because I came of age sexually in the early 1980s, and I lost so many friends, and so it means a lot to me. I really want young people to know what it used to be like and how that disease is still with us in a very deadly, horrible way. Larry and I have been working on this script for a year and a half, and every page has some sock to the stomach emotionally. There’s a three-page scene in there that I can barely read, let alone direct, which is about what it’s like to be a caregiver when somebody’s dying and throwing up and having diarrhea in your arms. [x]