Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda is not ready to bring his hip hop musical to the big screen despite fans’ demands.
The 36-year-old star’s hit stage show, which tells the story of U.S. founding father Alexander Hamilton through the medium of rap, has proved a major hit on Broadway since debuting at New York’s Richard Rodgers Theatre in August last year.
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As a result of the show’s immense popularity, which saw it earn a record 16 Tony Awards nominations, tickets to see Hamilton are incredibly scarce and fans have begged Lin-Manuel to make a movie. However the musician and actor is reluctant to make a Hamilton film as he feels a big screen adaptation would not capture the essence of his work. “The thing is, we worked really hard to make this work as a piece of theatre,” he tells Rolling Stone magazine.
“I get it – I get it 50 times a day: ‘Please film it! Please film it so we can watch it!’ And I understand it’s hard to get to New York and it’s hard to get a Broadway ticket. “At the same time, filming is an act of translation. It is not being in the room with us. It’s different. You will get the forest, you will not get the trees.” Although Lin-Manuel is not ready to bring his historical musical to cinemas, he does admit that a film adaptation is inevitable, “(maybe) someday. Probably not for, like, 20 years.”
His current focus is instead to ensure people from all walks of life get to see him perform the show in the flesh.
“Right now, our responsibility, as I see it, is to get as many people in this room (the theatre) as possible,” he explains. “Prioritize kids for whom it will make a difference in their grades and lives. So that’s why we have this educational initiative that has 20,000 kids seeing it this year alone, and we’re replicating that programme with our two national tours that are coming out within the year.”
Despite his wariness towards turning his play into a film, Lin-Manuel is a fan of several big screen adaptations of hit Broadway shows.
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“I thought Les Miz (Les Miserables) was a really strong adaptation,” he shares. “I thought Chicago was one of the best adaptations. Cabaret, which really took that show, a great show, and made it into a film that could never have existed in the theatre.”
Last month, the star revealed he was hoping to bring the show to Britain, telling London’s Evening Standard newspaper, “We’re hoping it will happen sooner rather than later. My wife is always trying to get me to other countries so I would be honored to open the show in London.” The show is rumored to be hitting London theaters at some point next year.
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