'Hamilton' movie release date on Disney+ pushed up to July 2020

August 2024 · 3 minute read

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You don’t have to “wait for it” — the film version of hit Broadway musical “Hamilton” is airing over a year ahead of schedule.

It will stream on Disney+ starting July 3, moved up from its original fall 2021 release date.

Disney CEO Bob Iger and “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda appeared on “Good Morning America” Tuesday morning to announce the new release date.

Disney had previously planned to roll out the movie — a production by the vaunted original Broadway cast filmed over three performances in July 2016, with Miranda famously playing the title role of Alexander Hamilton — to theaters on Oct. 15, 2021.

It’s an exciting expansion of access, especially for theater buffs who wanted to see the show on a stage but couldn’t manage to snag rare and expensive tickets before Broadway shut down. (Its 41 stages will remain dark through Labor Day, the Broadway League announced Tuesday.)

Director Tommy Kail, 42, has “basically given everyone at home the best seat in the house,” Miranda, 40, told GMA’s George Stephanopoulos from his Washington Heights home. “And it’s a thrilling experience. He really threads the needle between the cinematic closeups and widening out and seeing the show from the center aisle of the Richard Rodgers Theatre.”

The premiere has been fast-forwarded so that Americans can enjoy a musical about the fight for independence from Britain — spearheaded by Hamilton and his compatriots — right as they celebrate Independence Day in a year whose typical joys have been muted by the coronavirus pandemic.

“I can’t think of another work of art in the last decade that’s had the cultural impact of ‘Hamilton,’” Iger, 69, said. “And in these times, to tell a story of people united together against forces of adversity I think is quite relevant and actually quite important.”

Given that Disney’s profits are tanking as the coronavirus has crippled the cruise and theme park industries, releasing a much-anticipated film early could help. The entertainment giant launched Disney+, its own streaming service, in November.

The coronavirus crisis has boosted subscriber numbers, with 50 million paying customers signing up for Disney+ in the five months since its launch.

The original cast of “Hamilton” earned fast acclaim after its 2015 debut off-Broadway at the Public Theater and later that year on the Great White Way. It includes beloved actors Phillipa Soo, who plays wife Eliza, and Leslie Odom Jr., who plays Hamilton foe Aaron Burr.

“Watching it brings me right back there with that incredible once in a lifetime company,” Miranda said Tuesday, “and I just can’t wait for you to see it.”

Stephanopoulos joked, “Get the popcorn ready.”

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