“Hamilton” fans will have something extra special to celebrate this Fourth of July weekend as Disney on Tuesday announced it will be releasing a film version of the Tony Award-winning stage musical on July 3.
Originally slated for theatrical release in 2021, the film will now be streamed via Disney+ more than a year ahead of schedule, giving everyone “the best seat in the house,” according to a statement by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
“I’m so proud of how beautifully [director] Tommy Kail has brought ‘Hamilton’ to the screen. He’s given everyone who watches this film the best seat in the house,” said Lin-Manuel Miranda, in the official statement on Tuesday. “I’m so grateful to Disney and Disney+ for reimagining and moving up our release to July 4th weekend of this year, in light of the world turning upside down. I’m so grateful to all the fans who asked for this, and I’m so glad that we’re able to make it happen. I’m so proud of this show. I can’t wait for you to see it.”
Unlike recent releases of big screen versions of Broadway musicals, the “Hamilton” movie is a filmed stage performance from 2016 at New York’s Richard Rodgers Theatre. It stars the original Broadway cast including: Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton, Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr, Phillipa Soo as Eliza Hamilton, Daveed Diggs as Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson, Renée Elise Goldsberry as Angelica Schuyler, Jonathan Groff as King George, Christopher Jackson as George Washington, Jasmine Cephas Jones as Peggy Schuyler; Okieriete Onaodowan as James Madison.
According to Disney reps, the movie combines the “best elements of live theater, film, and streaming” resulting in a “cinematic stage performance that is a wholly new way to experience ‘Hamilton.’”
The Chicago stage production of “Hamilton” closed in January 2019 after a record-setting three-year run. It was the first production of the Tony Award-winning musical to be staged outside of Broadway, when it opened in 2016.
