After the Ice Bucket Challenge: Two Upcoming Movies About People With ALS

Posted on September 2, 2014 at 7:00 am

The Ice Bucket Challenge has brought a lot of money and attention to a devastating illness, ALS or Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, sometimes called Lou Gehrig’s Disease for the the New York Yankee who had to leave baseball when he was afflicted with ALS.

Two upcoming films about people with ALS should help bring attention to ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases and the people and families who are struggling with them. The Theory of Everything is based on the real-life story of Stephen Hawking, one of the most brilliant scientists in history. Here is the real Professor Hawking in a guest appearance on “The Big Bang Theory.”

And double Oscar-winner Hilary Swank plays a musician with ALS in the upcoming “You’re Not You.”

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Trailer: The Theory of Everything

Posted on August 6, 2014 at 3:55 pm

“The Theory of Everything” is the story of one of the world’s most brilliant minds, renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who has the most severe physical disabilities. Eddie Redmayne (“Les Misérables”) and Felicity Jones (“The Amazing Spider-Man 2”) star as Hawking and the Cambridge student he loves. Once a healthy, active young man, Hawking received an earth-shattering diagnosis at 21 years of age. With Jane fighting tirelessly by his side, Stephen embarks on his most ambitious scientific work, studying the very thing he now has precious little of – time. Together, they defy impossible odds, breaking new ground in medicine and science, and achieving more than they could ever have dreamed. The film is based on the memoir Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen, by Jane Hawking, and is directed by Academy Award winner James Marsh (“Man on Wire”). It will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival and arrive in theaters November 6, 2014.