Director Lin-Manuel Miranda will make musical ‘Octet’ into movie

By Danielle Broadway

LOS ANGELES, April 2 (Reuters) - Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator and star of the 11‑time Tony Award–winning musical "Hamilton," will direct a musical film adaptation of Dave Malloy’s chamber choir musical "Octet" as his next feature project, 5000 Broadway Productions announced Thursday.

“I haven’t stopped thinking about 'Octet' since I saw Annie Tippe’s premiere production in November 2019,” Miranda, 46, said in a press release. “Dave Malloy’s score is versatile, brilliant, and grows more relevant with each passing year. It won’t leave me alone—so here we are.”

Miranda will reunite with producer Julie Oh, who collaborated with him on the 2021 Netflix NFLX.O musical film "tick, tick…BOOM!," starring Andrew Garfield. Oh is joining 5000 Broadway Productions as head of film and television.

"Octet," which premiered Off-Broadway in 2019, is an a cappella musical that examines internet addiction through an eight-person support group meeting in a church basement.

Miranda is one of the most decorated artists of his generation, with three Tony Awards, two Emmy Awards, five Grammy Awards, and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. He has also received two Academy Award nominations.

Miranda has written songs for Disney's DIS.N critically acclaimed animated films "Moana" and "Encanto," and created "In the Heights" and "Hamilton," both of which achieved global recognition for their innovative, sung-through storytelling, notably "Hamilton" for its genre-blending portrait of American statesman Alexander Hamilton.

The "His Dark Materials" actor starred as the title character in the original 2015 Off-Broadway and Broadway productions of "Hamilton," which gained high acclaim.

In 2020, the recorded stage production of "Hamilton" premiered on Disney+ and in 2021, a movie musical version of "In the Heights" debuted in theaters.