Billy Porter is busy, busy, busy! On top of releasing a memoir, making new music, playing a fairy godmother, and directing his first original feature film, the 52-year-old Pose star has signed on to direct a feature adaptation of Lev Rosen’s novel Camp for HBO Max and Warner Bros., as Deadline reported Tuesday.
Porter is also slated to star in the feature as the eponymous camp’s theater director, which is entirely believable casting.
Scripted by Robert O’Hara (The Inheritance) from a screenplay by Kit Williamson (Eastsiders), the film centers on an LGBTQ+ youth camp called Camp Outland, where 16-year-old protagonist Randy Kappelhoff falls in love with Hudson Aaronson-Lim, who sadly doesn’t return his affections. That rejection serves as the catalyst for Randy to reinvent himself as a hypermasculine camper named Del in hopes of snagging Hudson’s attention, but the more he changes himself, the more he has to question whether love is worth sacrificing who you are.
Based on a novel published last year by Little, Brown, the upcoming film adaptation will be Porter’s second directing job. What If?, Porter’s forthcoming first film, is a contemporary LGBTQ+ coming-of-age story that will star former them. assistant editor Eva Reign as a trans high school senior navigating a relationship with a fellow student.
Camp will be helmed by Oscar-winning producer Dan Jinks (American Beauty) and produced by his eponymous Dan Jinks Company.
“Billy Porter, who I’ve been fortunate to know for more than 20 years, is the perfect director for this story, which is both hilariously funny and also quite moving,” said Jinks in a statement to Deadline. “I wish a movie like this was around when I was growing up. I’m thrilled we get to make it now.”
There is currently no projected release date for Camp, and the cast has yet to be announced.
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