'Hamilton' Is Officially Coming To Movie Theaters With The Original Broadway Cast

Hamilton: An American Musical was nothing short of a phenomenon when it arrived on Broadway in 2015. But like all musicals of its ilk, getting tickets was a nightmare. The run was sold out practically immediately, and trying to get them by lottery became such an ordeal, the Hamilton cast started a Ham4Ham set of performances to soothe the crowds. But Lin-Manuel Miranda, the show's creator, is here for us. Hamilton is coming to theaters in October 2021. But it's not just a movie musical. It's the original cast, filmed on the original stage so that everyone can see the show as it was first performed.

This is huge in the theater community. Many feel as though those who saw the fir-run shows with the original cast lord it over those who didn't. It's like a form of gatekeeping, the same way Star Wars fans will try to insist those who only started watching the films with the sequels are somehow "lesser fans."

Recently, Miranda pushed back against this sort of thinking. In an interview with Variety he noted:

You all have that friend who brags, 'I saw that with the original cast.' We’re stealing that brag from everyone.

Indeed they are. Now everyone who sees the musical in the theater will see it with the original cast.

In a statement, Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger said:

Lin-Manuel Miranda created an unforgettable theater experience and a true cultural phenomenon, and it was for good reason that Hamilton was hailed as an astonishing work of art. All who saw it with the original cast will never forget that singular experience.

What fans should understand is this is not a theatrical movie. It's not like this summer's upcoming In The Heights, which is adapted from the Broadway musical to work as a movie. Instead, what Miranda is doing is releasing what is known as a "live capture" film. It's explicitly designed to bring the experience of theater to the multiplex in an up-close and personal way.

The Metropolitan Opera in New York has been doing these for years, as live events simulcast with performances going on in New York City. This is the first time it will be used for a mainstream theatrical release.

Hamilton: An American Musical will land in theaters nationwide on Oct. 15, 2021.