It's been quite some time since we first heard Lin-Manuel Miranda was on board for a movie version of his first Tony-winning musical In The Heights. About a year ago, we learned John M. Chu was interested in directing, and the project seemed to be moving forward in development, with none other than The Weinstein Company. Given the tumultuous last several months the company has faced, In The Heights has been stuck in limbo and now that The Weinstein Company has gone into bankruptcy, the team behind the In The Heights movie project has finally nabbed the rights to the property back.
Because the film didn't go into production before the end of 2017, the rights to In The Heights recently reverted back to Lin-Manuel Miranda, Quiara Alegría Hudes and co. The latter is a playwright and composer who wrote the original book for In The Heights, with Lin-Manuel Miranda writing the music and lyrics. The movie project isn't out of hot water yet, however. According to a report from Deadline, once The Weinstein Company goes to court over bankruptcy proceedings, there could be follow-ups to the project in court. Regardless, it looks as if Miranda and Hudes will be trying to sell the movie to a different studio, presumably one that is not dealing with bankruptcy court.
We'll have to wait and see what happens; however, it's likely that In The Heights could be a good fit for a studio in the current climate. Musical-oriented movies have done better than expected of late. La La Land was a critically acclaimed hit in 2016. During the holiday season, The Greatest Showman also far exceeded expectations at the box office, earning more than $415 million worldwide on an $84 million budget. There's certainly room for In The Heights in the current movie landscape, especially considering Lin-Manuel Miranda is such a big name these days, thanks to Hamilton.
Reportedly, In The Heights and The Six Billion Dollar Man have found new homes just before bankruptcy proceedings get underway. Previously, The Weinstein Company was able to sell off other assets, including Paddington 2, but that came with its own set of challenges. Other films that are currently tied up with The Weinstein Company will have to wait until bankruptcy proceedings are over to move forward or change hands in any capacity. This includes both finished movies (among them both Mary Magdalene and The War with Grandpa) and projects that are in development hell for a little while longer.
For a while it looked as if The Weinstein Company would avoid bankruptcy by selling to Maria Contreras-Sweet and co. Unfortunately, the sale fell through reportedly due to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's interest in investigating Harvey Weinstein, and The Weinstein Company was forced to declare bankruptcy. We'll keep you updated as the case moves forward, but in the meantime, we can hope that In The Heights will finally find a studio that can get it off of the ground.
