The feature film adaptation of Garrard Conley’s Boy Erased has added Emmy Award winner Cherry Jones (24), Grammy Award winner Michael “Flea” Balzary of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Xavier Dolan (I Killed My Mother), Troye Sivan, Emily Hinkler (Tyler Perry’s Boo 2), Jesse LaTourette (Z Nation), David Joseph Craig (The Gift), Théodore Pellerin (It’s Only the End of the World), and Britton Sear (Vice Principals). They will be joining Oscar winners Nicole Kidman (The Hours) and Russell Crowe (Gladiator), along with Oscar nominee Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea), in the dramatic film based on Garrard Conley’s memoir.
Joel Edgerton adapted Conley’s story for the screen, with Conley actively involved as a consultant “to ensure the film is an accurate adaption of his memoir,” according to Focus Features. Boy Erased is Edgerton’s second film as director following his successful directorial debut with 2015’s The Gift in which he starred alongside Rebecca Hall and Jason Bateman. Filming is expected to get underway later this year, and Focus Features is targeting a 2018 theatrical release.
Rebecca Yeldham, Ann Ruark, Kim Hodgert, and Tony Lipp are on board as executive producers. Edgerton, Kerry Kohansky-Roberts, and Steve Golin are producing.
“The Boy Erased cast is rounding out in a way I could only dream of. We have gathered an incredible ensemble of actors,” stated Edgerton.
The Plot: The film will tell the story of Jared (Hedges), the son of a Baptist pastor in a small American town, who is outed to his parents (Kidman and Crowe) at age 19. Jared is faced with an ultimatum: attend a gay conversion therapy program – or be permanently exiled and shunned by his family, friends, and faith. Boy Erased is the true story of one young man’s struggle to find himself while being forced to question every aspect of his identity.
