"It's based on an event in [O'Neill's] life," said Kushner of the as-yet-untitled work. "One little event. It's not a biopic." O'Neill is the Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning author of such classics as The Iceman Cometh, Strange Interlude and Long Day's Journey Into Night. Rudin is the producer of such films as "The Hours" and Broadway shows including Passion, The Wild Party and Copenhagen.

It is a busy year for Kushner. In addition to regional productions of a rewritten Homebody/Kabul in Chicago and Los Angeles, his new musical Caroline, or Change, written with composer Jeanine Tesori, is set to debut at New York City's Public Theater this fall.

In addition, his television adaptation of "Angels in America," directed by Mike Nichols, will debut on HBO in December. The star-studded cast of the film will feature Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Mary-Louise Parker, Jeffrey Wright, Justin Kirk, Ben Shenkman, Patrick Wilson, James Cromwell, Michael Gambon and Simon Callow.