J.J. Abrams and his Star Trek star Zachary Quinto are teaming up to produce Tab & Tony, a drama which is set to explore the true story of the secret love affair between Hollywood stars Tab Hunter and Anthony Perkins.
The film is being scripted by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Doug Wright and is inspired by Hunter’s bestselling 2005 memoir Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star. It tells the story of Hunter’s struggle to come to terms with his sexual orientation in the Hollywood studio system of the 1950s, where being openly gay was taboo.
Hunter, who will turn 87 next month, starred in 40 movies including Battle Cry, Sea Chase and The Burning Hills, while Perkins – who died in 1992 of AIDS-related causes – was best known for his role as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho and its three sequels, and was also Oscar-nominated for Friendly Persuasion.
Zachary Quinto is currently appearing on Broadway in a revival of Mart Crowley’s The Boys in the Band, and can be seen on the big screen alongside Jodie Foster in Hotel Artemis. J.J. Abrams meanwhile is gearing up for his return to the galaxy far, far away, with production on Star Wars: Episode IX set to take place this summer.
Via THR