By Nathaniel Rogers of The Film Experience
In a recent post I mentioned that we were getting three movie musicals in the space of seven months. But that was a gross understatement as I hadn't yet finished my Oscar chart research for 2021. There are actually TEN musicals… no make that eleven (!) that are supposed to arrive before Christmas. Release dates are subject to change, of course. The current schedule represents Hollywood doubling-down, no quintupling down, on audiences salivating en masse for musicals in the way they currently only do for animated fare and superhero films. (That'd be a wonderful world of course, if audiences were so inclined.)
Lin-Manuel Miranda, of Hamilton fame, is spectacularly talented but looking at this schedule we're a little worried for him. We don't want Miranda to become the next Ryan Murphy — i.e. stretched thin, predictable, veering into being a Brand first and artist second, and offering diminishing returns. Given that Miranda is involved in more than a third of these musicals, that's a major oversaturation risk. Tell us which of these ten you're most excited about in the comments…
In the Heights
(June 11th, Warner Bros/HBO Max in theaters & streaming)
The 2008 Best Musical Tony winner written and starring Lin-Manuel Miranda made him famous. He's playing a supporting role in the movie this time with Anthony Ramos (A Star is Born, Hamilton) taking over the leading role. Olga Merediz reprises her Tony-nominated supporting role of Abuela Cladia.
