‘The Boys in the Band’: First look at Ryan Murphy Netflix remake starring Zachary Quinto and Matt Bomer
The upcoming movie remake of Mart Crowley’s seminal 1968 play features an all-gay cast.
By Will Stroude
Ryan Murphy’s Netflix projects just keep coming, and this one might just be the most exciting yet.
The Boys in the Band, Murphy’s upcoming movie remake of Mart Crowley’s seminal 1968 play about a group of gay men in New York City, is set to be released on 30 September, Netflix have confirmed.
First announced last year, the film features an all-star (and all-gay) cast of greats including Zachary Quinto, Jim Parsons, Matt Bomer, Charlie Carver, Andrew Rannells, Tuc Watkins and Michael Benjamin Washington.
The cast all appeared in Joe Mantello’s Tony Award-winning Broadway production in 2018, and Mantello is back in the director’s chair for the film adaptation.
The cast of The Boys in the Band pictured with playwright Mart Crowley, who died in March this year, aged 84.
Often cited as a milestone in the history of queer cinema, hit off-Broadway show The Boys in the Band was first adapted into a movie back in 1970 and was among the first major American motion pictures to revolve around gay characters.
An official synopsis for the new remake reads: “In 1968 New York City – when being gay was still considered to be best kept behind closed doors – a group of friends gather for a raucous birthday party hosted by Michael (Jim Parsons), a screenwriter who spends and drinks too much, in honor of the sharp-dressed and sharp-tongued Harold (Zachary Quinto).
“Other partygoers include Donald (Matt Bomer), Michael’s former flame, now mired in self-analysis; Larry (Andrew Rannells), a randy commercial artist living with Hank (Tuc Watkins), a school teacher who has just left his wife; Bernard (Michael Benjamin Washington), a librarian tiptoeing around fraught codes of friendship alongside Emory (Robin de Jesús), a decorator who never holds back; and a guileless hustler (Charlie Carver), hired to be Harold’s gift for the night.
“What begins as an evening of drinks and laughs gets upended when Alan (Brian Hutchison), Michael’s straight-laced college roommate, shows up unexpectedly and each man is challenged to confront long-buried truths that threaten the foundation of the group’s tight bond.”
The Boys in the Band arrives on Netflix on 30 September.