Dear Evan Hansen Trailer Released

After countless delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of major blockbusters are preparing to finally make their way to the big screen. Among them is Dear Evan Hansen, a star-studded adaptation of the popular Broadway musical of the same name. On Tuesday, Universal Pictures released the first official look at the film, in a trailer that you can check out below. The trailer provides the major beats in the story of Evan Hansen (Ben Platt), an anxious, isolated high schooler aching for understanding and belonging amid the chaos and cruelty of the social-media age.

In Dear Evan Hansen, when Evan Hansen, a high school student with social anxiety disorder, has a therapeutic self-intended letter stolen by a classmate, who later dies by suicide, their family mistakes it for being sent to Evan by their son. Evan inserts himself into the boy's past, throwing him into a series of inspiring, duplicitous, and confrontational events.

Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being A Wallflower, Wonder), Dear Evan Hansen is written for the screen by the show's Tony winner Steven Levenson with music and lyrics by the show's Oscar, Grammy and Tony-winning songwriting team of Benj Pasek & Justin Paul (La La Land, The Greatest Showman). The film also stars Amy Adams (The Woman in the Window), Julianne Moore (Lisey's Story), Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart), Amandla Stenberg (The Hate U Give), Colton Ryan (Little Voice), Nik Dodani (Atypical), DeMarius Copes (Broadway's Mean Girls) and Danny Pino (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit).

The film — which sees Platt returning to the character, who he previously played on the stage from 2014 to 2017 — quickly became a priority for Universal amid the COVID-19 pandemic last year, in part because the goal was to capture Platt's performance before he'd aged out of the role.

"I think everybody obviously had in their minds that I wasn't going to stay teen-adjacent forever," Platt explained in an interview with Vanity Fair. "The need to get it done was a little urgent. Then of course the pandemic happened, and I kind of assumed that was that—it would be a no-go, and by the time the pandemic was over, I'd have outgrown it."

"I certainly was hesitant at the beginning," Platt added. "The legacy of the stage performance has really changed my life, and to jeopardize that legacy in any way is a very scary thing. But I think in the back of my mind, I always felt [that] I'm going to want to show this to my children one day, and I'm going to want this immortalized."

Dear Evan Hansen is produced by Marc Platt (La La Land, Into the Woods, Mary Poppins Returns) and Adam Siegel (2 Guns, Drive), and is executive produced by Michael Bederman, Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

What do you think of the first trailer for Dear Evan Hansen? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Dear Evan Hansen is set to be released in theaters on September 24th.