Brad Pitt and his Plan B Entertainment have signed on to produce The Normal Heart, ‘Glee’ creator Ryan Murphy’s new film adaptation of the semi-autobiographical play by Larry Kramer. With Pitt backing him up, Murphy is finally picking up steam with this project, the first after his last directorial role in 2010’s Eat Pray Love.

The story is about an activist and his efforts to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS during the 1980s. The play has received many accolades over its several years on Broadway, most lately starring Ellen Barkin, Patrick Breen, Mark Harelik, John Benjamin Bickley, Lee Pace, and Jim Parsons, among others.

Murphy has been working on The Normal Heart for quite some time now and has expressed interest in casting Eat Pray Love’s leading lady, Julia Roberts, for the latest project. “’The Normal Heart’ is the thing that I’m going to do next,” explained Murphy. “I optioned it and there’s a brilliant script that Larry Kramer wrote and I’m going to do that with Mark Ruffalo and maybe Julia Roberts. I believe in that play.”

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