Universal Pictures has released the first trailer for the highly anticipated Dear Evan Hansen movie, based on the award-winning Broadway musical of the same name. Ben Platt reprises the role that won him the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, playing a high school senior with severe social anxiety who gets caught in a lie when a classmate dies by suicide, which in turn brings Evan closer to the departed’s family while also finally allowing him to grow outside his own shell. The musical’s lyrics and music were written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who won the Oscar for writing “City of Stars” for La La Land and who also wrote a number of songs for the hit film The Greatest Showman.
If you've never seen Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway, like myself, then this trailer will surely make clear why it was such a sensation — and why it's been talked up as such an emotional story. It's clear that Platt knows this character inside and out, and the film is bolstered by a terrific ensemble cast that also includes Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, Kaitlyn Dever, Danny Pino, and Amandla Stenberg. Add in the fact that The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Wonder filmmaker Stephen Chbosky is in the director's chair, and it's not hard to imagine this film serving as a major Oscar contender when it hits theaters later this year. I, for one, can't wait to see this.
Check out the Dear Evan Hansen movie trailer below, followed by the film's first poster. The cast also includes Nik Dodani, Colton Ryan, and DeMarius Copes. Scripted by Steven Levenson, who wrote the book for the musical, Dear Evan Hansen will be released in theaters on September 24th.
