Larry Kramer Hard at Work on The Normal Heart HBO Sequel & Hopes the Cast Will Reprise Their Roles

It’s official! After rumors that the project was in the works, playwright Larry Kramer has officially confirmed that he’s working with HBO on a Normal Heart film sequel. “I’m about two-thirds of the way through the first pass,” Kramer told Variety. “It starts around the end of The Normal Heart in 1984.” The sequel will be once again directed by Ryan Murphy, and Kramer hopes Julia Roberts, Mark Ruffalo and the cast from the first film will all be able to jump on board, too.

“Mark Ruffalo, who we hope will repeat his performance, will have to play Ned at a few times in his life: at the time of The Normal Heart, in the middle where he gets sick, and today,” Kramer explained. Activist Tommy Boatwright, played in the first movie by Jim Parsons, will also get a larger part in the new film. “He becomes a more important character in the sequel, as he was in my real life,” the playwright said.

The Normal Heart, which paints a portrait of the HIV/AIDS crisis in New York City in the early ‘80s, originally premiered off-Broadway at the Public Theater in 1985. Its first-ever Broadway mounting in 2011 garnered a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. Kramer previously wrote a stage sequel to The Normal Heart called The Destiny of Me—no title for the new film sequel has been announced.