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Lin-Manuel Miranda’s feature directorial debut has found its star. Deadline reported today that Andrew Garfield will star in Miranda’s upcoming movie adaptation, Tick, Tick…Boom!, based on the autobiographical musical by Rent playwright Jonathan Larson. Set to bow on Netflix, here’s everything we know about the project so far.
What is Tick, Tick…Boom! about?
The story follows Jon (based on Jonathan Larson, who would posthumously win three Tonys and a Pulitzer Prize for his play Rent), an aspiring theater composer waiting tables in New York City. While writing the musical Superbia, Jon juggles ambition and a relationship with girlfriend Susan, questioning his life choices ahead of his 30th birthday.
Larson’s musical was first produced off-Broadway in 2001, with Raul Esparza as Jon. Neil Patrick Harris headlined the 2005 West End premiere. None other than Miranda himself assumed the role for a 2014 off-Broadway revival.
Who’s involved in the movie?
Nearly everyone involved with the forthcoming project is a theatrical heavyweight. Miranda created and starred in the Tony-winning musicals Hamilton and In the Heights. In addition to directing the project, he’ll produce alongside Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, and Julie Larson. Garfield, who will play Jon in the film, won a Tony of his own for the 2018 revival of Angels in America. According to THR, he’s been in talks for the role since June.
The movie will be written by Steven Levenson, who won a Tony for Dear Evan Hansen and worked with Miranda on the recent FX miniseries Fosse/Verdon. In December 2018, Levenson told Playbill about the direction he and Miranda planned to take with the project. “The first decision that we made together was to go back to the original solo show that Jon performs—and so that’s the foundation of it, just trying to get back to that original story,” Levenson said, referencing Larson’s performance of the work in the early ’90s.
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How can I watch it?
tick, tick…boom! doesn’t have an official release date, but following a bidding war in summer 2019, it will eventually premiere on Netflix.
What else is Lin-Manuel Miranda working on?
Fans of the musical may have to wait on Tick, Tick…Boom! for a while, as Miranda’s plate is full. He co-stars in the forthcoming HBO series His Dark Materials, and he’s composing songs for the upcoming live-action The Little Mermaid alongside Alan Menken. He’ll also pop up in the film version of his musical In the Heights in June 2020.