Ryan Murphy's "Normal Heart"
Saturday, August 6, 2011 at 5:46PM 
Looks like it'll be television giant Ryan Murphy (Nip/Tuck, Glee) in the directing chair for the first film version of Larry Kramer's AIDS drama The Normal Heart. That righteously angry 80s play, which has long flummoxed would be adapters (most famously Barbra Streisand), was all the rage on Broadway this past season during its revival (I was less impressed than most but boy did the Tonys love it).
According to Playbill Murphy is planning on going with Mark Ruffalo in the lead role of Ned Weeks and wants his Eat Pray Love diva Julia Roberts in the awards-magnet supporting part of "Doctor Death". That part won Ellen Barkin the Tony and throat pains (we're guessing. It's very shouty!) but apparently not enough renewed career heat to get her an offer for the film version. Between this role and "Barbara" the eldest daughter in August: Osage County Julia seems to cornered the market on famously angry/exhausted stage-to-screen female roles.
But before we scream "Oscars all around in February 2013!", it's wise to remember (always) that that stage-to-screen teleportation magic is an eternally difficult trick to master. Murphy is enjoying great success with Glee but both of his films thus far, Eat Pray Love (2010) or Running With Scissors (2006), have had mixed results critically and at the box office. One of the dangers of success is that artists get spread very thin and that could obviously be a problem here with Glee still going strong despite its own occasional "spread to thin" feel.
on the set of Eat Pray Love
But we wish him good luck. He was once the president of a Meryl Streep fan club ferchrissakes. And though I couldn't find the copy that interview that Playbill is quoting he supposedly recently expressed regret that he had to turn down writing the Annie remake meant for Willow Smith, saying:
So now she's got Emma Thompson who is 50 million times better than me. LOVE HER.
So, see? Murphy really loves actresses and musicals. The Film Experience officially has no choice but to root for him.
Reader Comments (25)
Do we really have to root for him?
Oh! I feel he's so wrong for this particular project. And don't get me started on the Julia thing...
Anyway, I won't see it. I fear it is going to be my own Biutiful (also We Were There) :(
"its own occasional "spread to thin" feel ..."
That's awfully generous to Glee. :D
Yeah. I ditched it after the first 8 episodes of the second season. It was just that too many episodes had these "theme gimmicks" and a lack of a likeable focus. Yes the show was flawed. Shrill characterizations (Teri in particular), a soundtrack slowly slipping in quality and insanely repetitive plots. And by the second season...well, let's just put it this way: If the first season was a thin-crust pizza, the second was rice paper.
His best work by far in my opinion were the first, second and third seasons of Nip/Tuck
You made that up!..... j/k
Ugh. Why is Julia getting ALL the stage to screen roles. Ellen Barkin and Amy Morton could do circles around her.
Wow, there are so many things about this that suck. You could've said that Michael Bay was directing this and I'd think it would suck less. You could've said that Tim Burton was doing this with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter and I'd be less offended. Perhaps the worst movie news of the year.
I hope the project can end up being a success. However I don't feel confident that Ryan Murphy is directing, he's much to pandering, and he's anything but thoughtful or subtle. Also I have always been a Roberts detractor. I know that may be mean but I just think of her as charismatic occasionally and competent the rest of the time, She always gets roles that should go to less famous but more skilled performers.
I'm not a Roberts fan but I think she's naturally bitchy when she's not being naturally goofy. Julia taking roles for characters that are unlikeable or not very nice shouldn't pose a problem for her as an actress but does pose a problem for her public persona. Since she was once American's sweetheart, but I guess Sandra has usurped her place in the hearts and minds of many. I also see Bullock becoming more of a default Academy fixture of "trying" than seeing Roberts making a huge comeback. Thank God she got it for Brockovich -- she was forever losing to older character actresses -- sort of like Pfeiffer -- I don't know how Bening got stuck being the bridesmaids to these little girls who wouldn't have half the filmography and performances, as memerable as hers.
Murphy is twice the filmmaker of Gary Marshall and Taylor HACKford.
I'm rooting for Murphy and this because he directed Annette as Dierdre Burroughs (one of the last decades woefully underrated performances), and really I think he's a better director than writer so I'm reticently hopeful. (and Julia+Mark=WIN).
um...people constantly rag on Julia Roberts for just filling out the role and saying all she has is charisma(charisma being something people usually praise in a performance) but always defend mark ruffalo saying "He just makes it look easy!" well, HELLO!!!!! I'm not even a fan of her and I'm getting annoyed. B ack the fuck off or she"ll unhinge her jaw and swallow you! even if all her digesting only has 'Charisma"! she"ll get the job done,noo doubt, what....with that Mouth.
dPeggy Sue,
What does the "WE WERE THERE" reference mean?
Sorry, but I'm confused...
This will be a disaster. I saw the play and agree with a friend's remark that it is essentially a play about how awesome Larry Kramer thinks he is. There are *very* few likeable characters in the play.
Add to this the fact that Ryan Murphy handles his gay characters terribly, brushing them with awful stereotypes, and it has no hope. With its "how naive we were back then" feel and some modern applications, this could be a contender under more skilled supervision, but certainly not with Murphy as a director.
damn, i was hoping this might be the project to reunite ruffy and the lovely laura linney
/3rtfu11 : "Murphy is twice the filmmaker of Gary Marshall and Taylor HACKford."
Unfortunately, 2x0 = still 0.
Ryan Murphy's the gay Tyler Perry... oh wait.
par3182 --- oooooh. i could totally go for and see that casting. I'm perturbed that hollywood never wants to reunite teams that worked so spectacularly before. in ye olden times they knew to keep remixing the same successful chemistry in new configurations.
I want it to happen I love Julia
Mark -- Oh! I meant We Were Here a documentary about AIDS in the 80s.
I couldn't make it through the trailer (too emotional) as Nathaniel couldn't with Biutiful.
I was hoping Barkin could reprise her role also for the screen version...PITY!!!
Did anybody watch that HBO documentary on Jerry Weintraub? Ellen Barkin was very endearing in it. She said that Jerry gave her the role in Ocean's 13 because she had gone through a bad divorce and was in a bad place with her career, which I thought was pretty cool. I wish it would of helped her get more interesting parts. Anyway I thought it was an interesting anecdote. To bad she wont be in the film version of Normal Heart, I heard she was great on stage. I love Amber Atkins' mom.
Well, this sucks. Ryan Murphy is just an awful director. Glee's become insufferable, Nip/Tuck become laughable, Running with Scissors was a piping hot mess and Eat Pray Love was downright offensive. Root for him, I cannot. Sorry Nate.
Someone like Kimberly Peirce ("young" and "edgy" by Hollywood's standards) would've been perfect for this.
ty - I saw the doc of which you speak (a good time to spend 90 mins) and I agree, Barkin's anecdote was very touching indeed. And I also wish she'd get more parts, she's a very interesting actress.
Saw "Normal Heart" on Broadway and it would be just awful if they didn't have Ellen Barkin reprise her role. She was brilliant.
Julia Roberts? If this is the direction this film is taking, I won't be seeing it.