Warner Bros. is reportedly closing a deal to acquire the rights to In the Heights, the musical that made Lin-Manuel Miranda famous before Hamilton exploded and made him Famous. The movie rights to the show, about a Washington Heights neighborhood over the course of three eventful days, went up for auction not long after the Weinstein Co. declared bankruptcy in February. According to Deadline, Warner Bros. outbid Fox, Disney, Netflix, Apple , and others to secure those rights, to the tune of $50 million. That’s a lot of lottery tickets.
Miranda created and wrote the music and lyrics for In the Heights, which won four Tony Awards in 2008 and earned him his first Pulitzer nomination. The musical’s book was written by yet another Pulitzer winner, Quiara Alegría Hudes, who won in 2012 for Water by the Spoonful. The planned movie comes with a director attached: John M. Chu , who is also behind the upcoming film adaptation of Crazy Rich Asians.
Sinking $50 million just to acquire the rights to the musical is a bold move on Warner Bros. part, but to be honest, that’s exactly what I would do if I won the lottery. If only there were a song about that …
