The wait is almost over!
Lin-Manuel Miranda's highly anticipated film "In the Heights" hits theaters and HBO Max June 18 and a new trailer just dropped to help hold us over in the meantime.
The movie, based on the actor and writer's Tony Award-winning musical about New York's Washington Heights neighborhood, was originally set to debut last year but was delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to a synopsis for "In the Heights," the neighborhood is described as a place where "the streets are made of music and little dreams become big." And the trailer certainly measures up to expectations.
During the short clip, the beauty of Washington Heights is on full display and a narrator describes the story of "a block that was disappearing" due to gentrification and the big dreams of the neighborhood's residents. Production was eventually filmed in New York on location in the upper Manhattan enclave.
Miranda, who also created and starred in the hit musical "Hamilton," teamed up with director Jon. M. Chu for the project. The film features several original songs and plenty of breakout dance numbers, too.
The cast features Anthony Ramos ("A Star is Born" and "Hamilton"), Corey Hawkins (“Straight Outta Compton”), singer-songwriter Leslie Grace, Stephanie Beatriz (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”) and Dascha Polanco (“Orange is the New Black”).
During a virtual event over the weekend, Miranda expressed his excitement over the film and said he hopes it helps provide more visibility for the Latino community.
“We're so used to asking for less, just to ask to occupy space. As Latinos, we're like, 'Please just let us make our little movie.' And Jon, on every step of the way, he was like, 'Nope, this is a big movie.' These guys have big dreams, we're allowed to go that big,” he said.