In The Heights (2021, D: John M. Chu)
Now, a film adaptation of the bodega-set project is in the works at The Weinstein Co. Miranda, who is producing, has parked the still-hot project with Harvey Weinstein and is hoping to make it for $15 million. Though Miranda will be heavily involved in the film, it's unclear whether or not he will star, now that the 36-year-old is 10 years older than the character he first conceived.
In the Heights was initially set up at Universal, and after years in development, the studio opted not to make it and cut the project loose in 2011, balking at the Kenny Ortega-helmed film’s $37 million budget — a move that was met with surprise considering the success of the stage version. The show, which also spawned a Grammy Award for best musical show album, ran on Broadway from 2008-11 and toured the U.S from 2009-11. It continues to tour the world.
"As a kid from Queens, I’ve always loved bringing New York stories to film," Weinstein said. "In the Heights and Lin-Manuel brought Washington Heights to Broadway back in 2008 and in the process turned the theater world on its head. The movie musicals of the 1950s were incredible, but In The Heights will revolutionize what movie audiences expect from the genre.“
Set in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, the story centers on a bodega owner who has mixed feelings about closing his store and retiring to the Dominican Republic after inheriting his grandmother's fortune.
Theater and film veteran Scott Sanders (Evita, The Color Purple) also is producing alongside Scott Sanders Prods.' Mara Jacobs. Marc Klein (Serendipity) wrote a draft of the screenplay for Universal. Weinstein Co. is now working off of a script by Quiara Alegria Hudes, who wrote the book for the original stage show.
"It’s been nearly 10 years since In the Heights opened on Broadway, revealing, for the first time, Lin Manuel's ground-breaking artistry to the theater world," said Sanders. "I’m thrilled to be working with Lin and Harvey to share with audiences that same authentic sound and story from the Broadway stage to the big screen.”
Given the craze surrounding Miranda’s Hamilton — a hip-hop interpretation of the Founding Fathers — the timing is now optimal for In the Heights to gain new life.
Weinstein is no stranger to bringing musicals to the screen, having shepherded Rob Marshall's 2002 best picture Oscar winner Chicago, the film that revitalized the genre and paved the way for more recent box-office hits like Hairspray, Les Miserables and Pitch Perfect. Meryl Poster, who played a key role in bringing Chicago to the screen when she headed up production for Weinstein's Miramax, is coming on as an executive producer on the film.
There's no director in place yet for The Weinstein Co. version of In the Heights, though the assignment would certainly have Hollywood's music-friendly helmers salivating at the chance thanks to the project's catchy tunes and upbeat rags-to-riches storyline. The musical was nominated for 13 Tonys and won four, including the top prize.
Miranda is currently performing on Broadway in the lead role of Alexander Hamilton in Hamilton, a musical for which he wrote the book, music and lyrics — and which earned the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for drama. Having debuted at the Public Theater in February 2015, Hamilton is nominated for a record-setting 16 Tonys and is expected to dominate at the upcoming awards ceremony, which is set to take place June 12. The show moved to Broadway in July, becoming a must-have ticket for A-listers (J.J. Abrams is such a fan that he hired Miranda to compose music for Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and earning $30 million in presales en route to an astonishing $100 million projected first year. Miranda also is set to star opposite Emily Blunt in Disney's Mary Poppins Returns, which will be released on Dec. 25, 2018.
He is repped by WME, Liebman Entertainment and attorney Nancy Rose.
http://deadline.com/2018/04/lin-manu...cy-1202358714/
Deadline has learned that the underlying rights quietly revered back to Miranda and Hudes before TWC went into bankruptcy, because the film didn’t go into production by year end. Those 363 bankruptcy proceedings get underway Friday in Delaware court. There could be turbulence on this in court, but sources said that plans are being made to pitch the project to other studios. Both Disney and Warner Bros are strong candidates. Miranda just completed work starring for Disney in Mary Poppins Returns, and where he composed music on the animated hit Moana. Warner Bros just wrapped Crazy Rich Asians with Jon M. Chu directing. Chu will direct In The Heights. The script is by Hudes, with Miranda’s music and lyrics. It’s ten years since In The Heights opened on Broadway with Miranda starring as a bodega owner in Washington Heights who strikes it rich and plans to leave, until the pull of the neighborhood and the people in it give him pause. The musical won four Tony Awards.
The project had been set up at the Weinstein Company in 2016 but was extricated from TWC last fall after the Harvey Weinstein sexual misconduct scandal broke open. “In the Heights” is produced by Miranda, Anthony Bregman, Mara Jacobs, and Scott Sanders.
“In the Heights” is set in Washington Heights in New York City and focuses on a bodega owner who’s closing his store and retiring to the Dominican Republic after inheriting his grandmother’s fortune. The project has “Crazy Rich Asians” director Jon Chu attached along with the musical’s book writer and screenwriter Quiara Alegría Hudes. Endeavor Content represented the property and brokered the deal.
“In the Heights” had been set at Universal with Kenny Ortega attached to direct and Miranda attached to star before the studio put the project into turnaround in 2011. Miranda wrote the music and lyrics for the production and starred in the show’s lead role, earning him a nomination for the Tony Award for best actor in a musical.
Miranda followed up “In the Heights” by creating the smash Broadway hit musical “Hamilton,” which won 11 Tony awards in 2015.
Miranda is repped by WME, Liebman Entertainment, and attorney Nancy Rose of Schreck Rose. Chu is repped by UTA and Artists First. Hudes is repped by WME and Objective Entertainment. The news was first reported by Deadline.
Rita Moreno, who won an Oscar for her role as Anita in West Side Story, will star in the Warner Bros. movie musical. She will join A Star Is Born actor Anthony Ramos, who starred in Miranda's Broadway hit Hamilton.
Set in New York's Washington Heights, the story centers on a bodega owner who has mixed feelings about closing his store and retiring to the Dominican Republic after inheriting his grandmother's fortune. Moreno will play matriarch Abuela Claudia.
Crazy Rich Asians filmmaker Jon M. Chu is set to direct the movie with Miranda producing, along with Anthony Bregman, Mara Jacobs and Scott Sanders.
Warner Bros. picked up the rights to the musical in May after it was released by The Weinstein Co. as the indie studio was readying for bankruptcy.
Moreno, repped by Innovative Artists, is an EGOT winner and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient whose storied career has spanned decades. She can currently be seen on the Netflix series One Day at a Time.
I've said this in other threads : If you are adapting a musical into a movie, you better have movie stars in the leads. Otherwise you end up with "Rent" or "Jersey Boys" and nobody will come to see your movie. Even "Phantom" bombed without a high-profile star.
Neither Rita Moreno or "Lady Gaga's gay friend in A Star is Born" are going to move the needle. And this isn't even a high-profile Broadway musical.
So we'll see if that's correct about Moreno. He hasn't said anything about it.
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>*taps *
— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) April 11, 2019
And now, I’m thrilled to announce some of the cast of our In The Heights film...@ARamosofficial IS Usnavi@MelissaBarreraM IS Vanessa#CoreyHawkins IS Benny @lesliegrace IS Nina Rosario
We film this summer. Uptown.
Right here In The Heights.
...More soon! pic.twitter.com/xTfzjydC9n
*Taps *
— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) April 16, 2019
Bueno, you didn’t hear it from me,
But some little birdie told me...@VegaRubin IS Daniela!@iamstephbeatz IS Carla!@SheIsDash IS Cuca!
The hydrants are open.
Cool breezes blow. See you uptown. #InTheHeightsMovie pic.twitter.com/b8CNZU48Yu
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Dascha Polanco is from Orange is the New Black.
Daphne Rubin-Vega is familiar... seems to have had small parts in a ton of shows/movies.
Melissa Barrera is on Vida, a show on STARZ. She is smoking hot in it. Numerous sex scenes.
Last edited by Draven; 12-11-19 at 02:32 PM.
Lights up on Washington Heights...The scent of a cafecito caliente hangs in the air just outside of the 181st Street subway stop, where a kaleidoscope of dreams rallies this vibrant and tight-knit community. At the intersection of it all is the likeable, magnetic bodega owner Usnavi (Anthony Ramos), who saves every penny from his daily grind as he hopes, imagines and sings about a better life.
“In the Heights” fuses Lin-Manuel Miranda’s kinetic music and lyrics with director Jon M. Chu’s lively and authentic eye for storytelling to capture a world very much of its place, but universal in its experience.
“In the Heights” stars Anthony Ramos (“A Star is Born,” Broadway’s “Hamilton”), Corey Hawkins (“Straight Outta Compton,” “BlacKkKlansman”), singer/songwriter Leslie Grace, Melissa Barrera (TV’s “Vida”), Olga Merediz (Broadway’s “In the Heights”), Daphne Rubin-Vega (Broadway’s “Rent”), Gregory Diaz IV (Broadway’s “Matilda the Musical”), Stephanie Beatriz (TV’s “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”), Dascha Polanco (TV’s “Orange is the New Black”) and Jimmy Smits (the “Star Wars” films).
Chu is directing the film from a screenplay by Quiara Alegría Hudes; it is based on the musical stage play, with music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, book by Quiara Alegría Hudes and concept by Miranda. “In the Heights” is produced by Miranda and Hudes, together with Scott Sanders, Anthony Bregman and Mara Jacobs. David Nicksay and Kevin McCormick served as executive producers.
Behind the camera, Chu is reuniting with his “Crazy Rich Asians” production designer, Nelson Coates, and editor, Myron Kerstein. He is also collaborating with director of photography Alice Brooks (TV’s “The Walking Dead”) and costume designer Mitchell Travers (“Eighth Grade”). The choreography is by Christopher Scott, who previously teamed with Chu on the award-winning “The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers.”
“In the Heights” was filmed in New York, primarily on location in the dynamic community of Washington Heights. Slated for release on June 26, 2020, it will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.