On Tuesday’s episode of “The Tonight Show,” Lin-Manuel Miranda revealed that the movie version of his Tony Award-winning musical “Hamilton” will come to theaters on Sept. 5.
“I have an announcement!” Miranda declared during his “Tonight Show” interview. “So, tomorrow is the 10-year anniversary of ‘Hamilton,’ and we’ve been celebrating all year. But we have one more way to celebrate. We filmed most of the original cast performing in ‘Hamilton’ in 2016, and we always wanted to release it theatrically, but then the pandemic hit, and so we decided to release it on streaming so that everyone could see it at home whenever they wanted. But, Sept. 5, you will be able to see ‘Hamilton’ in movie theaters nationwide and in Puerto Rico.”
“Hamilton” premiered on Disney+ in July 2020, roughly a year before it was originally scheduled to debut in theaters. (The movie had been dated for Oct. 2021.) The movie version is a “live capture” of the production, filmed at The Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway in June of 2016 with most of the hit Broadway musical’s original cast, rather than a feature adaptation, à la 2021’s “In The Heights.”
Tickets are now on sale for the film, which will be released in theaters in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico on Sept. 5, the U.K. and Ireland on Sept. 26, and Australia and New Zealand on Nov. 13.
The Broadway musical debuted in 2015 and went on to win 11 Tonys and a Pulitzer Prize for drama. The original cast includes Miranda as Alexander Hamilton, Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr, Daveed Diggs as Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson, Christopher Jackson as George Washington, Jonathan Groff as King George, Renee Elise Goldsberry as Angelica Schuyler and Phillipa Soo as Eliza Hamilton.
Rights to the “Hamilton” movie sold for $75 million in a deal brokered by Endeavor Content on behalf of Miranda, according to sources close to the negotiations. Endeavor courted a number of Hollywood buyers, including Warner Bros., before Disney closed the deal. The Disney+ special won two Primetime Emmys from 12 nominations, including outstanding variety special. In June, the cast reunited for a special performance during the Tony Awards.
The theatrical release continues those “HamilTen” celebrations and expands on the Disney+ version with new footage in the form of a prologue dubbed “Reuniting the Revolution,” featuring interviews with the original cast and creators as they reflect on the show’s impact. “When we filmed ‘Hamilton,’ we wanted to try to capture the feeling of being in the Richard Rodgers Theatre during that first year on Broadway, and we’re thrilled that audiences will now have the opportunity to experience it on the big screen,” adds director-producer Thomas Kail in a press release announcing the theatrical rollout.
A special premiere screening event will take place on Sept. 3 at the Delacorte Theater, home of The Public Theater’s Free Shakespeare in the Park. A limited number of advance tickets will be available for a donation beginning Aug. 11, then a free ticket lottery distribution will be available at The Public Theater on Sept. 3, as well as a free standby line in Central Park prior to the screening’s start. All advance ticket donations will benefit The Public Theater, where “Hamilton” originally debuted in 2015 before transferring to Broadway. More information about the screening can be found on the Public Theater’s website.
Check out Miranda’s full “Tonight Show” interview above and “Hamilton” theatrical trailer below.
