THE NORMAL HEART (Cast News)

• THE NORMAL HEART

Julia Roberts, Alec Baldwin, Matt Bomer and Jim Parsons havejoined Ryan Murphy's ("American Horror Story," Eat Pray Love,"Glee") next film, an adaptation of Larry Kramer'ssemi-autobiographical play, The Normal Heart, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Julia Roberts

The play is described as follows:

"The Normal Heart" is the explosive drama aboutour most terrifying and troubling medical crisis today: the AIDS epidemic. Ittells the story of very private lives caught up in the heartrendering ordeal ofsuffering and doom - an ordeal that was largely ignored for reasons of politicsand majority morality."

Mark Ruffalo will play the lead character Ned Weeks. Robertsplays Emma Brookner, "a wheel-chair bound doctor who is one of the onlydoctors in New York talking the new disease seriously." Baldwin will playWeeks' brother, "a lawyer having a hard time dealing with his sibling'ssexuality." Bomer's character is Felix Turner, "a gay fashionjournalist who becomes Week’s boyfriend and tragically contracts thedisease," while Parsons is reprising his Broadway version of "a Southernerwho is a gay activist and part of a gay men’s health crisis group."

Brad Pitts, Plan B, production company will be producingthis film that will be going into production soon.