Lin-Manuel Miranda’s ‘In the Heights’ Sets New Release Date for Summer 2021

By Rebecca Rubin

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Audiences will have to wait until next summer to experience life in Washington Heights. “In the Heights,” Warner Bros.’ adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway musical, will now hit theaters on June 18, 2021.

The movie was originally scheduled to debut this June, but was postponed as the coronavirus pandemic began to sweep the country, causing theaters to close and film production to shut down.

Post-production on “In the Heights” was affected since crew members have been forced to work remotely, in line with social-distancing measures. As a result, it wouldn’t have been completed in time for its initial release date, even if multiplexes were able to reopen by then.

“In the Heights” stars “Hamilton” alum Anthony Ramos and was directed by Jon M. Chu, of “Crazy Rich Asians” fame. It centers on Usnavi, a bodega owner in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan.

“After long conversations & sleepless nights of uncertainty, we have decided the best time to release ‘In the Heights’ is next summer when people will feel the MOST comfortable celebrating in a movie theater TOGETHER,” Chu wrote Tuesday on Twitter . “I know it’s much later than we wanted but ‘In the Heights’ didn’t take 10 years to get made only to be left in half empty theaters w/out the crowd it deserves!!”

Miranda, referencing lyrics from the show, chimed in: “So we’ve got the summer and we’ve got each other Perhaps even longer..”

“In the Heights” also features Corey Hawkins, Melissa Barrera, Jimmy Smits, Daphne Rubin-Vega and Stephanie Beatriz. Quiara Alegria Hudes and Marc Klein wrote the screenplay. Miranda, who portrayed Usnavi on Broadway, has a small role in the film.

On Monday, Warner Bros. reshuffled much of its release calendar for the next two years, including delays for “The Batman,” “Shazam 2” and “The Many Saints of Newark,” a prequel to “The Sopranos.”

Every studio has been forced to shelve major movies and find new release dates for others as cinemas remain closed, with no indication of when it will be safe to return. For now, the only titles that haven’t vacated their late-summer opening weekends are Universal’s “The King of Staten Island,” Warner Bros.’ “Tenet” and “Wonder Woman 1984,” and Disney’s “Mulan.”