Disney is fast-tracking the release of a film version of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning musical, Hamilton, starring the original cast.
Originally, the film was set to hit theaters in October 2021, but with millions of Americans currently stuck at home in quarantine, the studio is now altering those plans. Not only will Hamilton be released 15 months early — July 3rd, 2020, to be exact — but it’ll be streaming exclusively on Disney+.
“In light of the extraordinary challenges facing our world, this story about leadership, tenacity, hope, love and the power of people to unite against the forces of adversity is both relevant and impactful,” Disney chairman Bob Iger said in a statement. “We are thrilled to bring this phenomenon to Disney+ on the eve of Independence Day, and we have the brilliant Lin-Manuel Miranda and the team behind Hamilton to thank for allowing us to do so more than a year before planned.”
The film adaptation of Hamilton, which Disney reportedly paid $75 million to acquire, captures a staging of the musical during its original run at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, in New York City. Alongside Miranda as Alexander Hamilton, the cast included Daveed Diggs as Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson; Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr; Christopher Jackson as George Washington; Jonathan Groff as King George; Renee Elise Goldsberry as Angelica Schuyler; and Phillipa Soo as Eliza Hamilton.
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Hamilton isn’t the only one of Miranda’s musical to see its release plans altered due to the coronavirus pandemic. A film version of his first musical, In The Heights, was originally scheduled to hit theaters in June 2020. Its release has since been moved to June 2021.
It’s only a matter of time…
Our Hamilton film.
THIS July 3rd.
On Disney+.#Hamilfilm pic.twitter.com/cXTM949hRr— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) May 12, 2020
