The latest musical sensation is heading to the big screen. Universal Pictures is in the beginning stages of producing a movie version of Dear Evan Hansen, the Tony Award-winning sensation that took Broadway by storm last year.
Universal acquired the film rights to the musical and Stephen Chbosky, the director behind family film Wonder, is in early negotiations to direct. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the duo behind the music for Fox’s The Greatest Showman and who won an Oscar for their “City of Stars” from La La Land, are behind the music and lyrics.
Dear Evan Hansen tackles adolescent mental illness, following a high schooler plagued with social anxiety who uses his classmate’s suicide for his own emotional gain. Stars Ben Platt and Rachel Bay Jones earned Tony Awards for their performances and Platt is in early negotiations to join the film version. Steven Levenson, the original author of Dear Evan Hansen, will adapt his story for the screen.
