Why In The Heights Is Getting A True Movie Adaptation But Hamilton Isnt

Why In The Heights Is Getting A True Movie Adaptation, But Hamilton Isn’t

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s play In the Heights received a true movie adaptation, so why isn’t Hamilton being made into a traditional film? We break it down.

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Why In The Heights Is Getting A True Movie Adaptation But Hamilton Isnt

There are several factors to consider why Lin-Manuel Miranda’s play In the Heights is getting a true movie adaptation but Hamilton isn’t, including the popularity of each stage production and the overall aesthetics, along with the intent of Miranda himself. In the Heights debuted on Broadway in 2008, and the big screen version will release in June 2021 after previously being delayed by the pandemic.

In the Heights takes place in New York City but doesn’t have a narrative gimmick like Hamilton, which focuses on 18th century characters who rap from beginning to end about American politics. For example, In the Heights follows Dominican residents over the course of three days in Washington Heights, a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan. The play won four Tony Awards upon its 2008 debut, and Universal quickly acquired the movie rights the same year. Due to several production delays, however, Hamilton ultimately took the spotlight in pop culture – both during its initial 2015 Broadway run, and then more recently when Disney+ released a live movie version of the play in 2020. Despite Hamilton’s success, the play likely won’t be adapted into a regular movie like In the Heights.

Because Hamilton is so massively popular already, it doesn’t necessarily need a theatrical movie version. So, it makes sense for Miranda to shift the spotlight to In the Heights, a highly-acclaimed stage production that has enormous mainstream potential as a movie. Not only will it benefit from Hamilton’s visibility in pop culture, but also because of Miranda’s involvement as a producer, composer, and actor. Plus, In the Heights blends traditional character dialogue with musical numbers; a formula that aligns with musical classics of the past. A movie version of Hamilton would be intriguing for many fans, but as Miranda explained in 2018 (via Cinema Blend), the rap and hip-hop aesthetic doesn’t allow for a break from the action:

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“Hamilton is sung through, beginning to end. There’s maybe a page and a half of dialogue in the the whole thing. How do you start at that tempo and keep the ball in the air with that sort of heightened speech in a way that doesn’t feel like a concert?”

Miranda has suggested that a movie version of Hamilton will never happen because of its structural design. Meaning, the play works so well because of the performers’ energy and the live audience element. In a feature film, the dialogue wouldn’t translate the same because it consists entirely of lyrical wordplay. During a 2020 interview (via Variety), Miranda explained why In the Heights has more potential than Hamilton as a movie:

How do we preserve the lightning in the bottle that is these actors in this moment?… I don’t love a lot of movie musicals based on shows because it’s hard to stick the landing. I’m very proud of Jon Chu’s version of ‘In the Heights.’ It is a different animal than the stage production. As long as I think of those as different things, it’s exciting. I don’t know what a cinematic version of ‘Hamilton’ looks like. If I had, I’d have written it as a movie.

Hamilton could indeed be adapted into a feature film, however the narrative structure would need some tweaking. The rapid-fire dialogue of the play allows for a thrilling live audience experience, but the actors and actress themselves essentially function as the mise-en-scène/stage design. In a Hamilton movie, the pace would need to be slowed down to spotlight the rest of the production design, and also to allow the audience to decompress from act to act. A slow burn version of Hamilton may not appeal to fans of the original play, but that just be the best option for a feature film adaptation like In the Heights.

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Link Source : https://screenrant.com/in-heights-hamilton-musical-movie-adaptations-difference-explained/

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