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Though it may seem far away, October 2021 is now set to have one of the most widely anticipated theatrical releases, at least for a certain demographic, in quite some time. Earlier this month, writer, performer and producer Lin-Manuel Miranda announced that his broadway sensation, Hamilton, would be released in theaters on October 15, 2021.
Disney presents:
Hamilton.
With The Original Broadway Cast.
Filmed onstage at The Richard Rodgers Theatre.
In A Theater Near You.
October 15, 2021.#Hamilfilm pic.twitter.com/z4ohfWXzi3— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) February 3, 2020
But this isn’t a musical movie the way you’re used to seeing them. The release of Hamilton in theaters will not be a film adaptation like 2012’s Les Miserables or 2019’s ill-conceived version of Cats. When Hamilton hits theaters, it will be a preservation, not an adaptation, of the live stage show that took America by storm. Back in 2016, as the original Broadway cast was beginning to disband in earnest, Miranda and his co-producers reconvened the entire original cast for their final performances as an ensemble and had them professionally recorded for posterity.
According to Miranda, these cameras didn’t just record the show from offstage, but actually recorded the performances from the stage itself, meaning the version released into theaters will be offer an unprecedented view of Hamilton. Hopefully, the show will allow everyone to see the show as originally intended, without any awkward stage-to-screen changes to take audiences out of things.
Miranda had teased fans with the knowledge that this version of the stage musical was “in the vault” for some time and he recently announced that Disney had acquired the show for theatrical release. Yes, October 2021 is far away, but while fans continue to wait for it, they will have a more traditional film adaptation of Miranda’s debut Broadway musical, In the Heights, to look forward to. In The Heights is scheduled for release on June 26, 2020.
I’m Evan Rook.
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