I have been out of commission for a few days, which I’ll report on later, but what got me back to my keyboard was the chance to share some exciting news. 

The film rights to The Normal Heart, Larry Kramer’s movement-inspiring play about the early days of the epidemic, were optioned by Barbra Streisand ages ago.  The project languished, year after year, and she never got the movie made.

But now, Glee creator Ryan Murphy has the landmark play on the way to the big screen.  Actor Mark Ruffalo, while promoting The Kids Are All Right told MTV News that he’s tentatively signed on to play the lead role, Ned Weeks, which is based

Mark Ruffalo

on Kramer himself.  Check out the full story here.

With the success of Milk and a tremendous upsurge in the LGBT community and AIDS movements’ early history, The Normal Heart is sure to generate a lot of interest. 

Kudos to Ryan Murphy for getting the project back on track and to Mark Ruffalo for taking on what is sure to be a challenging and exciting role. 

Brad Davis played the Ned Weeks role in the original production; he was succeeded by Joel Grey and in subsequent productions, the part was played by Martin Sheen, Richard Dreyfuss, Tom Hulce and Raul Esparza.  A great, great role.

There is even some physical resemblance between the Ruffalo of today and the Larry Kramer of the early 1980s.

Whether Ruffalo has the lungs for the job remains to be seen (or heard).