Warner Bros. Pictures has come out successful in a hotly-contested bidding war for the big screen rights to Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning musical In the Heights, Variety has revealed.
Set in Washington Heights in New York City, In the Heights focuses on a bodega owner who’s closing his store and retiring to the Dominican Republic after inheriting his grandmother’s fortune.
The project was originally set up at Universal with Kenny Ortega (High School Musical) directing and Miranda starring, but was put into turnaround in 2011. It was later acquired by The Weinstein Company, which then lost the rights in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein sexual misconduct scandal.
Jon M. Chu (Step Up 2: The Streets, Step Up 3D, Jem and the Holograms) is set to direct In the Heights, while Miranda, Anthony Bregman, Mara Jacobs, and Scott Sanders are producing.
