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EXCLUSIVE: After announcing last summer’s plans to turn Broadway hit John Proctor Is The Villain into a movie, Universal looks to have found a familiar face to direct the pic, as sources tell Deadline the show’s original director, Danya Taymor, will now helm the feature adaptation. Taymor helmed the original Broadway play which earned her a Tony nomination. Deadline reported last summer that the studio had optioned the rights with plans to adapt it into a feature film.
Kimberly Belflower, writer of the original play, will script the adaptation. Tina Fey and Eric Gurian will produce through their Universal-based Little Stranger, Inc. Marc Platt, Adam Siegel and Jared LeBoff will produce through their Universal-based Marc Platt Productions. Sadie Sink, who starred in the original and earned a Tony nomination for her performance, will executive produce.
John Proctor is the Villain has garnered 7 Tony Award nominations, including Best Play, and has grossed over $17 million and had an attendance of over 150,000 people over the course of its Broadway run. The play had a school licensing campaign of roughly 100 productions. The play, which completed its thrice-extended Broadway run at the Booth Theatre September 7, 2025, will play London’s Royal Court Theatre March 20 through April 25, 2026.
John Proctor is the Villain is set in a rural Georgia school where five young women grapple with MeToo-era revelations as they study Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. The play was acclaimed for its strong writing, cast and shocking plot twists.
Universal has seen strong results for its Broadway adaptations as of late, most recently adapting Wicked into a two-part blockbuster hit with the first film earning an Oscar nomination for best picture. Senior Vice President of Production Development and Special Projects Britt Hennemuth will oversee the project for the Studio.
Taymor became the youngest woman to win the Tony Award for Direction for her work on The Outsiders, which won four Tony Awards including Best Musical and is currently running on Broadway and in the 1st National Tour. She received a second consecutive Tony nomination for John Proctor is the Villain by Kimberly Belflower, which starred Sink and was nominated for seven Tony Awards including Best Play.
In 2021, Taymor made her Broadway debut with Antoinette Nwandu’s Pass Over which was the first play back on Broadway after the 18-month covid shutdown.
Taymor is repped by CAA and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner Auerbach Hynick Jaime LeVine Sample & Klein.
English (US) ·