HBO Films has landed Oscar winner Julia Roberts and Mark Ruffalo (most recently seen hulking out in The Avengers) for the dramatic movie The Normal Heart. Filming’s expected to take place later this year on the project, which has Ryan Murphy (Glee) on board to direct. Larry Kramer adapted his own Tony Award-winning play for the screen.
nnouncing the project, HBO programming president Michael Lombardo stated: “We are so proud to be involved with this monumental project. 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.”
The Plot: 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 the earliest 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 (Magic Mike) plays Felix Turner, a reporter who becomes Ned’s lover.
