‘Dear Evan Hansen’ Is Going To Be A Movie

Ben Platt performs at the 2017 Tony Awards Image by Getty Images

By Jenny Singer December 3, 2018

Waving through a — what now?

The smash hit Broadway musical about — checks notes — teen depression and suicide in the age of social media has been sold to Universal Pictures and is set to become a feature film, Deadline reports.

Dear Evan Hansen, we love you, and we’re so excited!

The producer? One Marc Platt, father of Ben Platt, aka the OG (original, for the elderly) Evan Hansen on Broadway, who took home the Tony for his brilliant portrayal of the Jewish teen. And no need to call nepotism — this is a theatrical dynasty we want. The senior Platt produced “Wicked” and “La La Land.” Soon he will co-produce “Oliver Twist” with Ice Cube, if you will believe it. Essentially, this is good for the Jews.

Not to mention this dizzying list of involved Yids — the songwriting team Pasek & Paul (the latter half of which is Jewish) sold the rights to Universal, which will have Marc Platt and Adam Siegel produce. “Evan Hansen” writer Steven Levenson will co-write the script with Stephen Chbosky, and executive produce alongside Pasek & Paul. No word yet on who will claim the title role, though it seems unimaginable that it would be anyone other than the original star, Platt.

Quite the crew. We’d like to request some female and people of color involvement, naturally. And while we’re asking for totally reasonable things, where’s that “Wicked” movie we’ve been hearing about for so long?

Jenny Singer is the deputy lifestyle editor for the Forward. You can reach her at Singer@forward.com or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

Jenny Singer is a freelance writer with pieces in Vox, the Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, Teen Vogue, and more. She was previously a staff writer at Glamour and the Forward, and she’s currently getting an MFA in nonfiction writing at the University of Iowa.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO