Julia Roberts, Jim Parsons, Matt Bomer and Alec Baldwin Join THE NORMAL HEART Film

Julia Roberts, Jim Parsons, Matt Bomer and Alec Baldwin have joined Mark Ruffalo in the upcoming film adaptation of THE NORMAL HEART, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Larry Kramer will adapt his script for the movie; Ryan Murphy, best known for creating FOX's musical show GLEE, is set to direct the film. It's being produced by Plan B. 

Ruffalo is to play Ned Weeks, while Roberts will play Emma Brookner (the role for which Ellen Barkin received a 2011 Tony Award) and Bomer will play Felix Turner (the role for which John Benjamin Hickey received his Tony). Baldwin is set to play Ben Weeks, and Parsons will reprise his Broadway role as Tommy Boatwright.

The Normal Heart played a 12-week limited engagement on Broadway from April to July 2011. The production won three 2011 Tony® Awards, including Best Revival of a Play, Best Featured Actress in a Play (Ellen Barkin) and Best Featured Actor in a Play (John Benjamin Hickey). The play has also been honored as this season's Best Revival of a Play by the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League Awards and has received Drama Desk Awards for Best Ensemble and Best Direction of a Play, along with a Special Citation from the New York Drama Critics Circle.

The story of a city in denial, The Normal Heart unfolds like a real-life political thriller -- as a tight-knit group of friends refuses to let doctors, politicians and the press bury the truth of an unspoken epidemic behind a wall of silence. First produced by Joseph Papp at New York's Public Theater, the play was a critical sensation and a seminal moment in theater history. So ahead of its time was this play that many of the core issues it addresses - including gay marriage, the healthcare system and, of course, AIDS - are just as relevant today as they were when it first premiered.

Read the Hollywood Reporter article here.