HBO and Ryan Murphy's Screen Adaptation of the Tony-Winning The Normal Heart to Get a Sequel?

The premiere of HBO’s star-studded screen adaptation of Larry Kramer’s Tony-winning play The Normal Heart won't air until May, but according to the Hollywood Reporter, HBO is already talking about a sequel. The follow-up would again be helmed by Murphy, with stars Mark Ruffalo, Julia Roberts and Jim Parsons likely to reprise their roles.

The Normal Heart is Kramer's trailblazing portrayal of the HIV/AIDS crisis in New York City in the early 1980s. It premiered off-Broadway at the Public Theater in 1985, and received a Best Revival Tony Award in 2011 for its first-ever Broadway production. Kramer and Murphy have spent several years adapting the work for the screen version, which contains a significant amount of new material. Along with Roberts, Ruffalo and Parsons, the cast of the screen adaptation includes Alfred Molina, Jonathan Groff, Joe Mantello, Denis O’Hare, B.D. Wong, Corey Stoll, Alec Baldwin and Joel Grey.

Kramer has previously written a sequel to The Normal Heart entitled The Destiny of Me. The 1992 original off-Broadway production was staged at the Lucille Lortel Theatre.