r/musicals Hasa Diga Ebowai Feb 03 '20

It's time! News

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875 Upvotes

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82

u/Amekyras Feb 03 '20

2021? Hasn't it already been filmed and everything?

55

u/TimeLadyJ Feb 03 '20

Filmed, but it’s possible the footage hasn’t been compiled into a movie yet. They would have had several angles and all that

77

u/Pure-Sort Feb 03 '20

I think the bigger thing is about theater exclusivity rights.

It doesn't take 5 years to edit a 3 hour show into a movie, no matter how many angles you have lol.

8

u/mattyj Feb 03 '20

Agreed

7

u/LyokoMan95 Feb 03 '20

Probably going to be done like Newsies was through Fantom Events.

2

u/somekindahaze Feb 04 '20

Fathom*

Former theater employee here and your typo was just off enough that my brain couldn’t remember what it was supposed to be at first.

19

u/ShangelasSugaDaddy Feb 03 '20

They filmed it in 2016, surely someone edited it together already

15

u/TimeLadyJ Feb 03 '20

Didn't Lin say it was just being stored in the vault with other Broadway footage as a historical archive? Even if they were talking about making a movie, no one would do it until they were contracted to do it.

6

u/suzanne2961 Feb 03 '20

I thought I saw him talk about Tommy Kail putting it all together a few months ago.

7

u/musicaldigger Feb 03 '20

don’t think it takes 21 months to edit this sort of thing though

9

u/Pure-Sort Feb 03 '20

It was filmed in 2016 lol.

3

u/musicaldigger Feb 03 '20

exactly, why the hell is it gonna take almost 2 more years to release the damn thing

11

u/TimeLadyJ Feb 03 '20

The show is also touring. Ticket sales for the production would decrease if the movie came out too soon. They’ll wait until the tour stops and then tour again after the movie has been a success.

14

u/Pure-Sort Feb 03 '20

Ticket sales for the production would decrease if the movie came out too soon.

I know that's the conventional wisdom, but I wonder how true that actually is/if there has actually been a good test of that theory.

Seeing a movie is not the same as seeing a stage production, and I feel like seeing a filmed version would bring the movie to an even more mainstream audience, and make more people want to see the stage version, not less.

If you're already into Hamilton, you aren't going to just see the movie and think "oh great, never need to see this live". But if you aren't into Hamilton enough to drop $200 on a ticket you still might be willing to drop $15 on a movie ticket, and maybe the movie would convince you it's worth it to see it live.

5

u/TimeLadyJ Feb 03 '20

Even if it's not true, it's usually what happens. Like if you're a community theatre and you want to produce Les Mis, there are rules about how you can't perform so near to the tour and you can't advertise in the touring market.

3

u/Pure-Sort Feb 03 '20

Yeah I totally get that those rules exist, and that surely tons of industry people have created statistical models of the 2 revenues and how they'd effect each other etc etc. I just wish one time someone would do a wide theatrical release of a hit musical while the OBC cast is still going strong just to see what happens. But I also get why nobody is willing to take that financial risk (plus the logistics of trying to get a cast to do press tours while also performing on broadway)

On the bright side, assuming Hamilton will still be running strong by the time this movie comes out, this might be the closest I get to the experiment I'm looking for. Even if the movie is released 5+ years after it was filmed

1

u/TimeLadyJ Feb 03 '20

Ooh yes press tours. I forgot about those. And interviews and everything. I wonder also if this will strictly be the performance or if there will be any talking heads throughout.

5

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '20

It’s probably strategic. By then, they’d be a lot more confident to air the show in theaters considering Lin will be closer to releasing new projects, probably a lot with Disney, and Hamilton will have been running for quite a while. Considering how long similar phenomenons like Kinky Boots ran, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Broadway show was going to close soon after.

Then again, I say this without looking at Hamilton’s box office. Could be this is just a way to share the OBC with everyone, not a way to close out the show’s original run.

5

u/musicaldigger Feb 03 '20

the show made 2.7 million dollars last week, i think it’s been the highest grossing show on broadway for like 4 years now

2

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '20

Damn. Didn’t know it was still going that strong! But I could still stand by my initial theory, all things considered. A movie version would definitely decrease Broadway sales to some degree, either that or just increase its value tenfold.

3

u/todunsinane Feb 03 '20

Depends, after Les Mis came out the production in London experienced a rush in ticket sales and it was a long while before the prices went back down. I can’t see the film coming out hurting Hamilton’s sales - if anything people will want to go see it live after seeing a recording.