Brad Pitt Signs On as a Producer of Ryan Murphy's Screen Adaptation of The Normal Heart

Brad Pitt's production company, Plan B Entertainment, will help produce Glee creator Ryan Murphy's upcoming screen adaptation of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart. Mark Ruffalo is set to star as AIDS activist Ned Weeks, while Murphy is hoping to court his Eat, Pray, Love star Julia Roberts to play Dr. Emma Brookner. No further casting or start date has been announced.

Kramer’s The Normal Heart chronicles the terrifying early years of the AIDS epidemic in New York and the silence of official America in dealing with it. Originally produced by Public Theater founder Joseph Papp and directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, the piece debuted off-Broadway on April 21, 1985, starring the late Brad Davis as Ned. The original production played for 294 performances. The Normal Heart was revived at the Public in April 2004, running two months, with Raul Esparza as Ned. The show's Broadway premiere, starring Joe Mantello, John Benjamin Hickey and Ellen Barkin, opened on April 27, 2011 and won three Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Play. That limited engagement closed on July 10.

Pitt previously served as a producer on Murphy's film adaptations of Running With Scissors and Eat, Pray, Love as well as films such as The Tree of Life, Kick-Ass, A Mighty Heart and The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford. Murphy's schedule is pretty busy lately as Glee readies to begin its third season on September 20 and his new series American Horror Story kicks off October 5 on F/X.