Disney is fast-tracking the filmed version Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton and will release the Broadway smash on Disney+ over Independence Day holiday weekend on July 3.
The feature had been set for October 15, 2021 after Disney reportedly paid a gargantuan $75m for the rights. It marks the latest title to be rushed to the platform and satisfy a growing subscriber base amid the coronavirus pandemic. Broadway theatres will not reopn until September 7 in the US, and there is speculation they may remain closed until early next year.
Disney moved Pixar feature Onward to the platform on April 3, and will release Artemis Fowl on June 12. It recently moved up its Michael Jordan ESPN documentary series The Last Dance after initially scheduling it for the NBA basketball play-offs.
Hamilton was filmed at The Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway in June 2016 and the performance stars Miranda as Alexander Hamilton, Daveed Diggs, Renée Elise, Leslie Odom Jr., Christopher Jackson, Jonathan Groff, Phillipa Soo, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Okieriete Onaodowan, and Anthony Ramos.
The cast includes Carleigh Bettiol, Ariana DeBose, Hope Easterbrook, Sydney James Harcourt, Sasha Hutchings, Thayne Jasperson, Elizabeth Judd, Jon Rua, Austin Smith, Seth Stewart and Ephraim Sykes.
Tommy Kail directed and produced with Jeffrey Seller and Miranda.
Disney executive chairman Bob Iger said in a statement released on Tuesday (May 12) that Hamilton was unmatched in its artistic impact “in the last decade”, adding: “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.”
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