Check out the latest casting news from the following films:

  • Taylor Kitsch (John Carter) will join The Normal Heart, Ryan Murphy's adaptation of the Tony Award-winning play that stars Julia RobertsMark Ruffalo, Matt Bomer and Jim Parsons, and will debut on HBO.
  • Zach Gilford (The Last Stand) will star opposite Allison Miller (17 Again) in Devil's Due, the Twentieth Century Fox thriller with found footage elements.
  • Abigail Spencer (Cowboys & Aliens) has joined Beautiful Now, an indie drama from writer/director Daniela Amavia that centers on a passionate dancer who asks herself if she likes what she sees when her life flashes before her eyes.

Hit the jump for more on each casting announcement.

The Normal Heart, both the play and the feature, were written by Larry Kramer and focuses on the HIV-AIDS crisis in New York City in the early 1980s.  Deadline reports that Parsons will play gay activist Tommy Boatwright (he also played the role in the 2011 revival on Broadway).  Kitsch will play the closeted investment banker Bruce Niles, who becomes an outspoken AIDS activist.  Roberts stars as Dr. Emma Brookner, a survivor of childhood polio who treats several of the earliest victims of HIV-AIDS.  Ruffalo plays Ned Weeks, who watches first-hand as the disease claims the lives of many in his gay community and starts looking for answers. Bomer plays reporter and Ned's lover, Felix Turner.  Production is slated to begin later this year in New York for a 2014 debut.

Deadline also reports that Gilford will join Devil's Due, a thriller directed by Radio Silence (V/H/S), which is comprised of Tyler Gillett, Chad Villella, Matt Dettinelli-Olpin and Justin Martinez.  The picture begins shooting next week in the Dominican Republic and New Orleans.

Finally, THR reports that Spencer will star in Beautiful Now, which centers on a young woman who reaches a crossroads in her life and crosses between fantasy and reality.  In the midst of her crisis, her disbanded group of friends begins to reunite and guides her through a journey revisiting intense memories.  Spencer recently wrapped the indie drama One Heart with Matthew Lillard and Marc Blucas and will star in Wrong Number, which she also penned.  She'll next be seen starring in Sundance Channel's first scripted series, Rectify.