Who stars in Dear Evan Hansen, and what's the story about? The 2021 movie originated as a Broadway play, which was conceived by playwright Steven Levenson and scored by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Both productions star Ben Platt (Pitch Perfect, The Politician), the son of Oscar-nominated movie producer Marc Platt.
Dear Evan Hansen made headlines in May 2021 when the official trailer released. The film follows a teenage character, which prompted social media users to speculate about Platt's casting, as the actor is currently 27 years old. The Dear Evan Hansen trailer also raised questions about the career trajectory of Platt's co-star Amy Adams, who recently headlined the poorly-received Netflix movies Hillbilly Elegy and The Woman in the Window. Regardless of Dear Evan Hansen's quality, the film will be a huge cultural event because of its Tony Award-winning Broadway predecessor.
Given the critical acclaim for Lin-Manuel Miranda's 2020 Hamilton movie and the 2021 musical In the Heights, there's a lot of pressure on Dear Evan Hansen to be more than just a box office success. Fans will be expecting a faithful adaptation, and general moviegoers will anticipate high-quality performance numbers and elite acting. Based on the collective resumes of the main players, Dear Evan Hansen could indeed become a massive mainstream hit. Here's what to expect from the 2021 movie.
Dear Evan Hansen's Returning & New Cast
Dear Evan Hansen features the eight main characters from the original play. Platt reprises his role as the title character, a high school senior with anxiety issues who writes letters to himself as a coping mechanism. Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart) co-stars as Zoe Murphy, Evan's love interest, while Adams (Arrival) and Danny Pino (Mayans M.C.) play the girl's respective parents, Cynthia and Larry, who are recovering from the suicide of their son, Connor (Colton Ryan; Uncle Frank). Amandla Stenberg (The Hate U Give) rounds out the main cast as Evan's motivated classmate Alana Beck, along with Julianne Moore (Magnolia) as Heidi Hansen and Nik Dodani (Atypical) as Jared Kleinman.
Dear Evan Hansen's Story
Dear Evan Hansen follows the life journey of the title character, specifically his relationship with the Murphy family. After a school confrontation, Connor takes one of Evan's self-empowering letters after signing his cast and commits suicide shortly after. The deceased's parents believe that Evan and Connor were close friends, which sets in motion the storyline about grief, misunderstandings, and redemption.
Does Dear Evan Hansen Have Songs?
Dear Evan Hansen does include songs, evidenced by the trailer in which Platt's character performs in front of classmates. Stenberg also collaborated with the original composers for a song that's not part of the Broadway production. Platt will also perform two new songs (per Vanity Fair). The official Dear Evan Hansen website reveals that several songs from the musical will be included in the movie adaptation, including “You Will Be Found,” “Waving Through a Window,” “For Forever,” and “Words Fail."
Dear Evan Hansen Release Date
Dear Evan Hansen will be released theatrically by Universal Pictures on September 24, 2021. The film's streaming distribution details haven't been announced. Dear Evan Hansen's opening weekend box office competition includes The Eyes of Tammy Faye, The Many Saints of Newark, and Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
