'Hamilton': Performance of hit musical to be released in cinemas and on Disney+

A performance of Lin-Manuel Miranda's hip-hop take on US history was filmed back in 2016

FILE - In this June 12, 2016 file photo, Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cast of "Hamilton" perform at the Tony Awards in New York.  Next year, you'll be able to see the original Broadway cast of “Hamilton” perform the musical smash from the comfort of a movie theater. The Walt Disney Company said Monday, Feb. 3, 2020, it will distribute a live capture of Lin-Manuel Miranda's show in the United States and Canada on Oct. 15, 2021. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
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A big-screen version of smash-hit musical Hamilton is coming to movie theatres in 2021, its creator has announced.

The show – which has become one of the highest-grossing Broadway musicals of all time since its 2015 debut – tells the story of Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers of the United States.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also stars in Hamilton, said the film would be a live performance of show at New York's Richard Rodgers Theatre that comprised the original cast, which also includes Daveed Diggs, Jonathan Groff and Renee Elise Goldsberry.

It will be distributed by Disney and released on Friday, October 15, 2021, he said in a tweet. Variety magazine said it would get theatrical runs in the US and Canada.

"What I'm most excited about is that you all have that friend that is like, 'I saw it with the original cast,'" Miranda told the magazine. "We're stealing that brag from everyone because you're all going to see it with the original cast."

While audiences outside North America may not get the chance to see the performance in cinemas, the Hamilton run will be followed by a debut on the Disney+ streaming service, according to Deadline.

Hamilton has made $633 million (Dh2.3bn) in box office receipts and has been seen by 2.5 million people in New York alone since arriving on Broadway in August 2015, according to Broadway.com.

A production of Hamilton has also been on in London's West End since 2017 and a three-year tour of the show just ended in Chicago.

Mixing political history with rap and hip hop, the show won 11 Tony Awards in 2016, including Best Musical.

Another of Miranda's musicals, In the Heights, has been adapted for theatres and is due out in June.