Disney's Bringing 'Hamilton' to Movies in the Biggest Deal in Film History

Lin-Manuel Miranda's Final Performance In "Hamilton" On Broadway

Source: Walter McBride / Getty

Hamilton is coming to theaters next year!

A film version of the multi-award winning Broadway production is coming to theaters October 15, 2021. Disney paid $75 million for worldwide movie rights, in what is considered to be the biggest film acquisition deal ever.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton Producer, Composer, Actor, and Playwright, tweeted the announcement on Monday (February 3).

In true performance-style, Miranda teased the announcement with a simple tweet, “Wait for it.”

An hour later, he tweeted the announcement, telling fans that Hamilton will be coming to film next year.

Per Deadline, Disney is teaming up with Miranda, Jeffrey Seller, and Thomas Kail on the project. The film aims to combine “the best elements of live theater and film,” resulting in “a cinematic stage performance that is a wholly new way to experience Hamilton.”

“I fell in love with musical storytelling growing up with the legendary Howard Ashman-Alan Menken Disney collaborations— The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin,” Miranda said. “I’m so proud of what [director] Tommy Kail has been able to capture in this filmed version of Hamilton—a live theatrical experience that feels just as immediate in your local movie theater. We’re excited to partner with Disney to bring the original Broadway company of Hamilton to the largest audience possible.”

The film was shot in June 2016 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, but studios had to pledge not to release it until at least 2020.

“Lin-Manuel Miranda created an unforgettable theater experience and a true cultural phenomenon, and it was for a good reason that Hamilton was hailed as an astonishing work of art,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said. “All who saw it with the original cast will never forget that singular experience. And we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to share this same Broadway experience with millions of people around the world.”

The Broadway musical, which premiered on February 17, 2015, garnered a record-setting 16 Tony nominations in 2016 and won 11, including Best Musical. It also received the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

The film will include the original Broadway cast including Miranda as Alexander Hamilton; Daveed Diggs as Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson; Renée Elise Goldsberry as Angelica Schuyler; and Leslie Odom, Jr. as Aaron Burr. Other stars will include Christopher Jackson as George Washington; Johnathan Groff as King George; Phillipa Soo as Eliza Hamilton; Jasmine Cephas Jones as Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds; Okieriete Onaodowan as Hercules Mulligan/James Madison; and Anthony Ramos as John Laurens/Philip Hamilton.