Hamilton Broadway Coming to Disney Plus July 3- Page 3

[Fosse76]

Posted: 5/13/20 at 4:24pm

Plannietink08 said: "Given the bumpy start to DISNEY+ and what they’re doing to elevate LMM I’m not surprised by this decision. Amazing news though."

What bumpy start? Other than the overwhelming demand that caused some crashing on its release day, it was relatively smooth.

[ImaginaryManticore]

Posted: 5/13/20 at 6:14pm

This is an evil genius move by Disney.

They may have paid $75 million for the rights, but streaming platforms have spent far more on making new series. It's all about drawing in new subscribers, and Hamilton will be as sure a bet as anything.

I'll be sad not to experience it with an audience, though. That could have been so much fun. I'm glad the Filmed on Stage article says they're still planning a theatrical release. This is a good decision for lockdown, but afterwards is it wrong that I actually want it to get the old-fashioned Disney Vault treatment? Take it off streaming after a year, and then make the big screen release into an event.

[azleafcat]

Posted: 5/14/20 at 6:03pm

bear88 said: "I'm as eager as anyone to see it, even if I was more excited about seeing the musical in a theater, but I'm curious about the business angle (and a few other things).

- Disney paid a lot of money for the rights to Hamilton, and there's no way the company will be ableto make a profit on its investment with new Disney+ subscriptions. I was never sure how well it would do as a theatrical release, but now we'll never know what how much money a professionally shot megahit musical with crossover appeal could do as a film. I'm a bit bummed we'll never find out.

- That said, I understand the logic of releasing it on the Fourth of July weekend. Disney acquired an asset that has unique value to the company at this time - a critically-acclaimed musical, filmed almost four years ago, just sitting around when people are eager for something new to watch (or in the case of people who have seen it, to see in a different format). Hamilton's value now is almost certainly higher for Disney now than it would have been next year as a theatrical release that might not have made big money.

- There weren't many questions answered. While I assume Hamilton won't come and go quickly on Disney+, it raises questions about whether it will be available to purchase, in a theater (ever), et cetera. Yes, I guess we'll be getting the muted version on Disney+, which is annoying.

While $75 million is a lot of money and certainly Disney won’t make back its investment as quickly as the original planned 2021 theatrical release, it’s still cheaper to put Hamilton on Disney+ versus the $200-300 million production budget films (Mulan, Black Widow) that Disney makes that would typically earn $1 billion at the worldwide box office.   Plus, it now makes its 2021 release slot available for another film.

Given it’s popularity, hopefully Disney releases it on Blu-ray and VOD with bonus features.  This would likely be Disney’s route in markets without Disney+, although Disney could also license it to a third party where Disney+ doesn’t exist.

The early debut on Disney+ should allow the original cast, crew, and producers some small but nice residuals.

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 5/14/20 at 6:07pm

I’m not a fan of this choice of streaming service; getting pretty sick of Disney sticking their fingers all over everything.

[schubox]

Posted: 5/15/20 at 1:44am

Elfuhbuh said: "I’m not a fan of this choice of streaming service; getting pretty sick of Disney sticking their fingers all over everything. "

Disney bought the rights. Why would they put it on another streaming service?

[darreyl102]

Posted: 5/15/20 at 2:50am

^ right, it makes complete sense. Disney payed the 75 million dollars for the rights. I'm thankful they moved up there release date so quickly. This recording has been the stuff of legends and talk for quite some time now, and it's finally happening. Just be happy. Go Disney!

Updated On: 5/15/20 at 02:50 AM

[Fosse76]

Posted: 5/15/20 at 5:26am

Well, they could have put it on Hulu, and therefore eliminated any need for censoring it.

[theatreguy12]

Posted: 5/15/20 at 11:00am

The corporate Disney, of present and in recent years, hasn't met a flavor of the month they haven't gone after.  

And with their presence on Broadway for the last 25 years, it came as no surprise to me that they went after LMM as fast as they could. 

Clearly he's more than just a flash in the pan.  But Disney hitching their wagon to his star was no surprise whatsoever.

The way Disney has fallen into the business of buying things lately, I'm sure they had their eyes on his product too.  From the get go.

As for Hamilton.  I thought it was a good show.  I saw the OBC.   But it isn't even up there in the top 10 of shows I've seen.  And I've seen over 100 Broadway shows to date.

In fact, the show that I thought was way more entertaining that season was Shuffle Along. And imho, Savion should have received the Tony that year.  But there was no way that they weren't going to give the choreography prize to Hamilton.  It was the juggernaut that was getting everything else.  

[Kad]

Posted: 5/15/20 at 11:18am

Your personal opinion of the show doesn’t change the fact it is the rare musical in modern times to become a cultural phenomenon.

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Posted: 5/15/20 at 5:02pm

Fosse76 said: "Well, they could have put it on Hulu, and therefore eliminated any need for censoring it."

^ This

It's hard to understand their long-term objective.  I and a zillion others will subscribe to D+ in order to watch this, but will cancel as soon as it’s possible to do so.  That’ll bring in a nice chunk of change for a month or so, but wouldn’t it have made more sense to put it on Hulu so that the target audience for the production might actually stick around for while?

[darreyl102]

Posted: 5/15/20 at 5:11pm

Has it been announced it was indeed going to be censored?

Updated On: 5/15/20 at 05:11 PM

[Fosse76]

Posted: 5/15/20 at 5:30pm

darreyl102 said: "Has it been announced it was indeed going to be censored?"

No, but Disney has censored other offerings on Disney+, so I wouldn't expect an uncensored version.

The fact that people can subscribe for one week for free to see this and then unsubscribe  is irrelevant. You can say that about most of its content. As has been pointed out,  a portion of the new subscribers will likely not be unsubscribing, either because they forget or because the low fee makes them not in a rush to cancel. I'm surprised they didn't follow Universal's Trolls strategy and make it only available as rental. But as also had been pointed out,  exclusive content is their only way to gain new and keep old subscribers, and Disney+ is lacking. The recently announced Percy Jackson series should show they plan on developing with exclusive content. 

[theatreguy12]

Posted: 5/15/20 at 5:58pm

Kad said: "Your personal opinion of the show doesn’t change the fact it is the rare musical in modern times to become a cultural phenomenon."

And nowhere in my posting did I state that it wasn't.  My personal opinion.  As you noted.  

Hamilton is a good musical, but it was one-timer for me.  

[SFFrontRow]

Posted: 5/15/20 at 7:29pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "Oh, you silly kids. This’ll be available everywhere after it airs. Even if it streams only once."

I hope this is true. Even if Disney only does limited time only sale of DVD, it'd go fast.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 5/15/20 at 8:24pm

SFFrontRow said: "BrodyFosse123 said: "Oh, you silly kids. This’ll be available everywhere after it airs. Even if it streams only once."

I hope this is true. Even if Disney only does limited time only sale of DVD, it'd go fast."

That's not what he meant, though there is no doubt in my mind they will release it on DVD, Blu-Ray and digital downloads.

[Luscious]

Posted: 5/16/20 at 10:51am

I am opposed to the censoring or editing of material in any way, shape or form. If Disney+ is planning on airing a censored version of the film, I'll wait for the Blu-ray release. I've waited this long to see it, I can wait a little longer. Actually, I would have loved for Hamilton to have been made available to stream for a modest fee with the proceeds going to The Actor's Fund or a variety of theater-related non-profits. That would have been awesome!

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 5/16/20 at 1:36pm

schubox said: "Elfuhbuh said: "I’m not a fan of this choice of streaming service; getting pretty sick of Disney sticking their fingers all over everything. "

Disney bought the rights. Why would they put it on another streaming service?"


Maybe you and others here missed the last part of my sentence, but I’m unhappy that Disney bought the rights at all. They’ve been grabbing too many companies and properties, to the point where they almost have a monopoly on the entertainment industry by now. 

[darreyl102]

Posted: 5/16/20 at 1:40pm

Elfuhbuh said: "schubox said: "Elfuhbuh said: "I’m not a fan of this choice of streaming service; getting pretty sick of Disney sticking their fingers all over everything. "

Disney bought the rights. Why would they put it on another streaming service?"


Maybe you and others here missed the last part of mysentence, but I’m unhappy that Disney bought the rights at all. They’ve been grabbingtoo many companies and properties, to the point where they almost have a monopoly on the entertainment industry by now."

Well, any company would do the same if they had the ability- that's the name of the game. In fact, it will most likely only have a growing Monopoly on the entertainment industry, where Disney is King

Updated On: 5/16/20 at 01:40 PM

[Globefan]

Posted: 5/16/20 at 6:32pm

I wonder if they'll bleep anything 

[Fosse76]

Posted: 5/16/20 at 6:40pm

Globefan said: "I wonder if they'll bleep anything"

Have you missed the first three pages of this thread?

[Jarethan]

Posted: 5/16/20 at 7:40pm

The first thing that came to my head when I read that it was going to be released in 2021 was 'why would they do this when the rabid desire by non-theatre fans to see Hamilton is still incredibly high?'   I really wondered whether this would lower the intensity to see Hamilton once available in the movies.  (I know that Phantom and Les Mis have had something resembling the show shown years ago on TV, but they were past their huge demand days and were long on TKTS).

When Covid19 came along, I always assumed that Hamilton, The Music Man and maybe some other things with big stars might get people back into seats sooner than they might otherwise.

God only knows when Broadway will re-open, and I hope that there may be a vaccine somewhere around that (sooner-than-later) time; I wonder whether this availability on Disney (presumably even for repeat viewing for some time) will cause the fervor to dissipate, in which case Hamilton might not be quite the must-see show to get people back into theatre seats when it does return.  (Before COVID, I assumed that Hamilton would probably run as long as at least The Lion King or Wicked.  Between COVID and all the exposure it will get on Disney, I wonder whether this will lead a much reduced run than would have been the case.  All theoretical, as there is no way of knowing).

Since the theatrical producers have been as greedy as possible ($199 for the last row of the rear mezzanine against the wall???), this whole thing seems surprising to me.  

I also wonder whether there will ever be an 'opened up' Hamilton movie, if the taped version proves to be a huge success.

While I am personally delighted that it will be on Disney with the incredible original cast, I really question the business decision of previously IMO very greedy producers.

 

[bear88]

Posted: 5/18/20 at 11:36pm

It’s always a guess about whether a film will lengthen the life of a Broadway musical, have no impact, or shorten its run. But if a movie version helps a show by exposing the story and music to a much larger audience, the twist here is that viewers will see the same musical - not a film adaptation.

Seeing a show live is a very different experience, but it might not seem quite as different. But I think the exposure will probably boost Hamilton as much as it hurts by turning it into a familiar chestnut. We’ll never know.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 5/18/20 at 11:59pm

Tons of movies on Disney + are not censored, I don't expect this will be either. 

[CT2NYC]

Posted: 5/19/20 at 2:05am

The F-word isn't heard in any movie on Disney Plus, and they certainly aren't going to allow motherf***ing, which would earn an automatic "R" rating. The subject is discussed at length here:

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=1121315&page=2

Updated On: 6/28/20 at 02:05 AM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 5/20/20 at 12:59pm

Incorrect!