How Disney’s ‘Hamilton’ movie might change the film and theater industries

Disney is bringing moviegoers to the room where it happened. Specifically, to the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York City for a performance of "Hamilton" with the original Broadway cast.

The show's producers announced Monday that Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical juggernaut will be released in movie theaters worldwide by Disney. Directed by Thomas Kail, it will hit the U.S. and Canada on Oct. 15, 2021.

A filmed version of the 11-time Tony Award-winning production has been in the works since it opened on Broadway in 2015, with Miranda promising fans that the show would be captured before the original Broadway cast _ which includes Miranda, Daveed Diggs, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Leslie Odom, Jr., Christopher Jackson, Jonathan Groff, Phillipa Soo, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Okieriete Onaodowan, Anthony Ramos and Ariana DeBose _ moved on to new projects.

Though producers Miranda, Jeffrey Seller and Thomas Kail may not have been sure at the time what they'd do with the footage, two performances were filmed in 2016. Now that Disney is releasing it, as a movie, find out how this move might might change both the film and theater industries.