Directed by Emmy winner Ryan Murphy (“Eat Pray Love,” “Glee”), the film has been shooting in New York City this summer towards a 2014 debut on HBO. Kramer adapted his play for the film.

Academy Award winner Julia Roberts is cast as Dr. Emma Brookner, with Matt Bomer as Felix Turner, Mark Ruffalo as Ned Weeks, Taylor Kitsch as AIDS activist Bruce Niles, and Jim Parsons reprising the role of Tommy Boatwright that he played on Broadway. Tony Award winner Joe Mantello, who portrayed Ned Weeks in the 2011 Broadway premiere of Kramer's play, will play Mickey Marcus. Jonathan Groff (Spring Awakening) is also part of the cast. 

HBO has announced that Angels in America Tony Award winner Spinella has joined the cast, along with Normal Heart Broadway co-director Grey (Cabaret), O'Hare (Take Me Out), Wong (M. Butterfly), Alfred Molina (Red), Corey Stoll (A View from the Bridge) and Finn Wittrock (Death of a Salesman).

Executive-produced by Murphy, Jason Blum, Dede Gardner and Dante Di Loreto, "The Normal Heart," according to press notes, "tells the story of the onset of the HIV-AIDS crisis in New York City in the early 1980s, taking an unflinching look at the nation’s sexual politics as gay activists and their allies in the medical community fought to expose the truth about the burgeoning epidemic to a city in denial."

Kramer’s play debuted at New York’s Public Theater in 1985. The 2011 Broadway revival garnered five Tony nominations, winning for Best Revival, Best Featured Actor and Best Featured Actress.