Jonathan Bailey and Bill Nighy are set to star opposite each other in a film adaptation of Bill Hayes’ 2017 memoir Insomniac City. The book details Hayes’ relationship with famed British neurologist Oliver Sacks in the final years of the doctor’s life. Hayes was nearly 30 years Sacks’ junior when their unlikely romance began in New York City.

38-year-old Bailey is one of the most high-profile out gay men, but he has not undertaken a gay role since the miniseries Fellow Travellers. That is, until his casting as Hayes opposite 76-year-old Nighy as Sacks was announced on Monday, November 9, on the eve of the American Film Market in Los Angeles, where Altitude will oversee the international sales for the project.

The title Insomniac City comes from Hayes having lived with insomnia for most of his adult life. In 2009, following the death of his partner (whom he had met when working at the AIDS Foundation in San Francisco), the writer decided to relocate and where better than the city that never sleeps? Here, he met Sacks (also an insomniac), and they formed a strong bond which evolved into a long-term romantic partnership.

Sacks only officially came out in his 2015 memoir On the Move: A Life, which was released the year of his death. Prior to his relationship with Hayes, he had been celibate for decades and lived alone for most of his adult life. 

Widely celebrated for his contributions to the field of neurological studies, Sacks’ famous written work includes The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat and Awakenings. The latter was adapted into an Academy Award-nominated film starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro.

The film adaptation of Insomniac City will be directed by Dominic Cooke (On Chesil Beach, The Courier), who will co-write with Hayes.