‘Hamilton’ Movie Getting Released a Year Early in July on Disney+

The Hamilton movie is getting released a year early, and will now premiere in July on Disney+ instead of getting a full theatrical release. According to Variety, the previously recorded film of the hit Broadway show will debut on July 3, just in time for Independence Day. It was originally scheduled to open in theaters on Oct. 12, 2021.

Hamilton director Thomas Kail shot three live performances of the show, featuring the original Broadway cast, and they were edited to create the full-length show. “I’m so proud of how beautifully Tommy Kail has brought Hamilton to the screen. He’s given everyone who watches this film the best seat in the house,” Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda said in a statement. “I’m so grateful to Disney and Disney Plus for reimagining and moving up our release to July 4 weekend of this year, in light of the world turning upside down. I’m so grateful to all the fans who asked for this, and I’m so glad that we’re able to make it happen. I’m so proud of this show. I can’t wait for you to see it.”

In a past interview with NPR’s Terry Gross, Miranda opened up about creating Hamilton, and shared some insight on writing the show’s biggest tune. “For me, the fun of writing ‘My Shot’ was, it’s Hamilton’s declaration of purpose. And I wanted to demonstrate his intellect and his ambition not just in what he was saying but in the way he was saying it. So prior to his arrival and singing ‘My Shot,’ the other guys in that bar – right? – Laurens, Mulligan and Lafayette – are rhyming at the end of the line. It’s (rapping) I’m John Laurens in the place to be. Two pints of Sam Adams, but I’m working on three.”

He continued, “We rhyme at the end of the line. And then here comes Hamilton. And suddenly, you’re getting a lot of internal assonance and a lot of internal rhyming and not content to just rhyme at the end of the line, but, you know, have these big pun-esque lyrics, you know? (Rapping) I know the action in the street is exciting, but Jesus, between all the bleeding and fighting, I’ve been reading and writing.”

Miranda then added, “So it’s – they’re intricately tied together. And if you consider that Hamilton is delivering this in real time, suddenly you’re like, whoa, this is the greatest freestyler who ever lived. And so that was the fun in constructing that. And it was many days and months of work to sort of make his lyrics just that much more intricate than everybody else’s.”