Twitter Is Dragging The Dear Evan Hansen Trailer For 1 Big Reason

There have been a few modern musicals that have taken over not only Broadway, but the entire world. Wicked updated a classic tale for the 21st century; Hamilton proved American history and hip-hop can be a surprisingly incredible combination. In 2016, Dear Evan Hansen became the one of the most recent musicals to inspire worldwide fandom, and its upcoming movie adaptation is sure to garner the touching story even more fans. Here's everything we know about the Dear Evan Hansen movie so far, including the stacked cast list and info on how parts of the story will be altered from the stage version.

Dear Evan Hansen (the musical) premiered in Washington, D.C., in 2015 before it hit Broadway the next year. The show is about a teenager with social anxiety who finds himself trapped in a complex misunderstanding about his friendship with a dead classmate. It became a star-making role for Ben Platt, who originated the role of Evan Hansen, and went on to sweep the 2017 Tony Awards, taking home six major awards including Best Musical, Best Original Score, and the Best Lead Actor in a Musical trophy for Platt.

In 2018, Universal Pictures picked up the film rights for the musical and Platt confirmed to James Corden that principal photography for the film had begun in August 2020. Since then, even more info has come out:

Dear Evan Hansen Trailer

Universal Pictures released the first trailer for Dear Evan Hansen on Tuesday, May 18. The first look immediately became a trending topic on Twitter, but not only due to fans expressing their excitement. Many people joked about Platt’s age, since the actor is 27 and playing a teenager in the film. The fairly noticeable wig Platt wore for the part also drew some criticism.

Dear Evan Hansen Cast

The upcoming film adaptation will include some actors from the musical's original cast, while also bringing in some other big names. Ben Platt will reprise his star-making role as Evan Hansen in the movie, and Kaitlyn Dever is set to play Evan's love interest, Zoe Murphy. (Dever became well known after co-starring with Platt's close friend Beanie Feldstein in the comedy Booksmart.)

The role of Connor Murphy is the only other part to go to an actor from the stage show so far. Colton Ryan will play the part of the doomed teenager, reprising the role he was an understudy for during the musical's Broadway run.

There are a few other famous faces in the new cast as well, including Amandla Stenberg, Julianne Moore, and Amy Adams. Stenberg will play Evan's ambitious friend Alana Beck, whose role will be expanded from the stage show and include a new song. Moore will play Evans's mom, Heidi Hansen, and Adams will play Cynthia Murphy, the mother of Dever's character, Zoe.

Rounding out the cast, Nik Dodani (Atypical) will play Evan's best friend Jared Kleinman, and Danny Pino (Cold Case) will play Zoe's stepfather Larry Murphy. For the movie, Larry will be Zoe's stepfather rather than her biological father.

Dear Evan Hansen Premiere Date

As confirmed by the trailer, Dear Evan Hansen will premiere in theaters on Sept. 24.

Dear Evan Hansen Plot Details

As with almost all film adaptations of Broadway musicals and plays, the new movie is expected to mirror the plot of Dear Evan Hansen very closely, with just a few minor tweaks. The only changes that have been reported so far are that Alana will be a bigger part and get her own song in the film, and Larry Murphy will be Zoe's stepfather rather than her biological father. Platt also spoke about worries that he may age out of the high schooler role in a June interview with Jimmy Fallon, so there is a chance the movie could opt to age up the main characters a bit, although it doesn't seem likely, since the high school setting is important to the plot.

Basically, it sounds like fans of the musical can expect to relive the magic of Dear Evan Hansen when the new movie comes out, and anyone who fell in love with the music but never got the opportunity to see the stage production can finally see their favorite songs brought to life.