Coming this summer.
The newest trailer for In the Heights dropped a few hours back, so I'm a little late on the reaction, but here it is. If you don't know, In the Heights is based off of a musical by Lin Manuel-Miranda, who created the cultural phenomenon that was Hamilton. This is significantly less popular, but still an interesting project, because it isn't as famous as Hamilton. Here is my reaction to the latest trailer.
My Thoughts
I gotta admit: I'm skeptical.
If you are going to adapt a musical into a movie, this is definitely not the worst decision. If this was Hamilton, I'd be a lot meaner. In the Heights fits more of a movie formula and isn't necessarily one that has to be set on stage. But I am shocked that we are getting a film adaptation of this before Wicked or Dear Evan Hansen. This is not the most well-known play, despite winning the Tony for Best Musical.
However, this movie looks a little...strange. I don't know how well the screenplay and over-dramatic characters are going to work in a movie that seems like it's trying to stick to the originality of the musical. Of course, the musical numbers and dance numbers look incredible, and those will likely be the highlight of the film. However, on a story and screenplay front, this movie worries me.
The musical numbers look like they make this movie worth a shot, but right now, this is a contender for biggest surprise of the year because my expectations are very cautious going into it.
In the Heights comes out on June 18, 2021.