Earlier this year, it was announced that Disney had fought hard and won out in a heated bidding war for the filmed version of Hamilton – not exactly a Hamilton film, but a recorded version of the hip-hop stage musical featuring the original Broadway cast. It was originally set to hit the big screen towards the end of 2021 – and we were willing to wait for it. But now it seems Disney is not throwing away its shot to get the show in front of a huge lockdown audience who are growingly increasingly bored, and are past patiently waiting for new pieces of entertainment.
The Hamilton filmed production is now coming to Disney+, meaning the room where it happens will be your own living room, and the wait will be significantly shorter than expected – it’s hitting the streaming service in on Friday 3 July, just in time for the American holiday weekend. Work!
As those who have seen the show – which amazes and astonishes in equal measure – will know, it stars writer-actor-musical-genius Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton, one of the (formerly) less-well-remembered Founding Fathers of the USA, following him from a young, scrappy and hungry 19 year-old to a prominent revolutionary, changing the course of the War of Independence, charting the course of the newly-minted United States after the war, and getting into some serious beef with rival Aaron Burr (Leslie Odom Jr). And it’s all told in the form of hip-hop and R&B-influenced songs, Miranda likening the story of Hamilton and America itself to the story of rap – an American artform that allowed people with absolutely nothing to create something for themselves through the power of words alone. And if you’ve not seen it? Just you wait.
If it’s going to be a while yet until we get the feeling of freedom and seeing the light in lockdown, Hamilton coming to Disney+ in a matter of weeks is sure to bring some much-needed escapism and artistic brilliance at a time when the world’s turned upside down. And it makes up for Jon M Chu's film adaptation of Miranda's other musical, In The Heights, being pushed back an entire year.