The IN THE HEIGHTS Film Adaptation Thread — Page 43

A few random thoughts and questions:

1) Can anyone think of a recent movie musical that did good box office without any stars? It's possible for musicals to succeed, but most of the ones that do include at least a couple of reasonably big stars. I think there's a real resistance to musicals among regular moviegoers, and one way to overcome that is with some established stars. In the Heights went out of its way to cast virtually no one the average person had ever heard of. The movie might have bombed anyway, but this added another hurdle to overcome.

2) I've seen multiple stories saying In the Heights attracted little interest outside of the New York City area with Latino audiences in places like Los Angeles or the Southwest. That, again, suggests there simply wasn't any interest. And then what little interest there was dropped to zero after the opening weekend.

3) I've mentioned this before, but I do wonder if movies aimed at urban areas and people of a more liberal political bent might suffer as the country still tentatively emerges from a pandemic. I saw In the Heights on a Saturday night on its opening weekend with 10 people (including me and my partner). The big screen was nice, but it wasn't exactly a festive atmosphere. People in the San Francisco Bay Area are still a bit skittish about going to places like theaters.

4) This has been a great week and a half for people who hate Lin-Manuel Miranda. He's getting it from all sides. A Washington Post opinion piece on Monday, titled "In the Heights is More of the Same Whitewashed Hollywood" was particularly cutting in its assessment of him, while people like Bill Maher chastise him for apologizing. This is Miranda's first high-profile flop, and he has gotten to be labeled the face of colorism on top of it. Here's the WaPo op-ed: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/21/in-the-heights-lin-manuel-miranda-black-colorism-afro-latinos/

5) While 2021 has been touted as the year of musicals, I wonder about that. In the Heights has flopped at the box office, and its critical and audience popularity has been drowned out by controversy. Tick, Tick... Boom! is a small film that isn't likely to make much of a dent. Dear Evan Hansen is another film with only two stars in supporting roles, Julianne Moore and Amy Adams, and we'll see how it translates. I have no idea about Cyrano or Cindarella. The West Side Story remake is sort of its own thing. If it succeeds and the others fail, it will be an outlier, an established, beloved musical with a star director. If they all flop, well, that won't be good.

Updated On: 6/22/21 at 05:51 AM

everythingtaboo said: "broadwaybabywannabe2 said: "if the powers that be had only treated IN THE HEIGHTS as more of a fairy tail like ENCHANTED...then maybe more would have shown up...instead to my way of thinking,all the young women look like over done sluts...while the men look just ordinary...nice misogyny maybe?...that opening dance number looked like every dancer in NYC was asked to participate and there didn't seem to be any "real" people dancing in the streets...and the scene in the beauty shop looked like the TV show Claws...in other words, heightened to the unrealistic max!!...i am glad i did not pay to see this...HBO MAX. makes it easy to walk away from it..."

"Your way of thinkingis horrific. Walk away from this thread."



NOPE not gonna happen...i have seen more movie musicals in my life time than most of you combined...i have stated an opinion...and guess what the movie going public has stated theirs...this movie is not a financial success...sadly...tmy point is this movie played like one big cliche in regards to Latina women...

Updated On: 6/22/21 at 11:07 AM

LizzieCurry said: "Re: #3, I saw it at Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklynlast Friday evening. It was (I think) one of the last showtimes with buffer seating, and one of their smaller theaters, so it's hard to estimate how full it COULD have been, but it was definitely hovering around 1/4 of the actual capacity. Previous screenings had sold out pretty quickly, though. I wanted to go the first weekend and to their special ITH brunch and they'd been sold out for days."

Yeah, but you saw it in a small theater in Brooklyn, where In the Heights has done fine, as I understand it. It's in the rest of the country where the movie has done poorly. We still have buffer seating in my part of California, but they didn't need it.

I finally saw In the Heights today. My review is on Manny At The Movies

I will just send the text

From Manny At The Movies

Before he created the global sensation Hamilton, Lin Manual Miranda brought his life experience in Washington Heights Manhattan Island to Broadway with the Tony Award winning musical In the Heights. Fast forward 13 years later, Miranda teams up with Warner Bros Pictures to bring his songwriting debut to the big screen. Along for the journey is original book writer Quiara Alegría Hudes writing the screenplay and director Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians, Step Up 2/3). This was a stage to screen adaptation I’ve waited over a decade to become a reality. Was it worth the long wait?

In the Heights is the story of life in Washington Heights Manhattan Island with neighbors made up of Puerto Rican, Dominican and Cuban immigrants. Usnavi is a bodega store owner who dreams of life in his parents home of the Dominican Republic. The neighborhood is on the brink of transition with his friends moving out. Under the guidance of their surrogate grandmother Abuela Claudia, their sense of family and community is put to the test. Meanwhile Usnavi’s friend Nina Rosario returns home from Stanford University and struggling to please herself and her widowed Puerto Rican father Kevin.

Under Chu’s colorful direction, the sensational cast includes Anthony Ramos (Hamilton, A Star Is Born) as Usnavi, telenovela veteran Melissa Barrera as his love interest Vanessa, Latin pop star Leslie Grace (feature film debut) as Nina, Corey Hawkins (The Walking Dead, Straight Outta Compton) as Benny Nina’s love interest and Usnavi’s best friend, Jimmy Smits (Star Wars prequel trilogy) as Kevin Rosario, Olga Merediz reprising her Broadway performance as Abuela Claudia, Daphne Rubin-Vega (Mimi in Rent OBC) as Daniela, Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine Nine, upcoming Encanto) as Carla and special appearance by Lin Manual Miranda himself as Piragua Guy

There is no major weak link in the cast in terms of acting or singing. Hudes reworked her original script and makes the story flow beautifully and more cohesive than in the stage version. Give Merediz an Oscar for her emotionally compelling recreation of Abuela Claudia. The spectacular music that combines salsa, reggae and hip-hop are given creative and vibrant sequences that snuggle in. The messages of home, family, dreams and community are delivered in a poignant and resonating fashion.

What would have done better are deleting Cuca, the third salon girl and seeing more of Marc Anthony as Sonny’s dad. Sadly missing are more focus on Nina and Benny’s interracial romance as the beta couple as well as a few songs from the stage version that I liked. I do respect the sake of pacing and timing though.


Overall, I give In the Heights 4/5 stars. It’s the feel-good movie you should make as your first trip to the movies this summer. A song-filled celebration of Latinx power with universal appeal. It didn’t go above or below my expectations. A beautiful blend of high energy, genuine joy, emotional relevance, romance and sentiment only Lin Manual Miranda could create. And many more experiences on the big screen to come for me as we come out of the dark from COVID-19.

LizzieCurry said: "It's almost endearing how people do not understand online engagement!"

I love you LizzieCurry…just in case you did not know….

kidbroadway2 said: "if dear Evan Hansen flops which isn't out of the realm of possibility with names, somewhat memorable songs and a huge push behind it, Hollywood will NEVER be making musicals again with big budgets. EVER!



I don't care how West Side Story does, just won't happen."

"if dear Evan Hansen flops which isn't out of the realm of possibility with names, somewhat memorable songs and a huge push behind it, Hollywood will NEVER be making musicals again with big budgets. EVER! "

You do realize it's 2021 doncha? It's not 1975 where box office was it, you're a hit or a flop. Today movies make money from Box Office, Soundtrack CD & Downloads, On Demand,& PPV, Digital, DVD & Blu-ray sales, Premium & Basic cable sales and TV syndication sales, Relax, "In The Heights" will make money.

QueenTwinnied said: "This was the exact incorrect assumption people made after Cats flopped and look how many movie musicals are coming out in the next two years. Calm down, drink some water, and touch some grass. It's gonna be okay"

All the musicals coming out now were already greenlit by the time Cats tanked. There is a lag of 1-2 years, sometimes more, in terms of how quickly Hollywood reacts to box office performance. For example DEH's film adaptation was first announced in 2018 and is only coming out now.

You realize in 6-8 months this movie is going directly onto HBO Max for free again, right? They'll be lucky to make back their budget, let alone the millions they spend on marketing and promotion."

Yeah but HBO MAX is not free, so your point there misses the mark. There is a history of movies making profit once it starts to air on TV, both basic and premium cable.

Nocredits said: "

You realize in 6-8 months this movie is going directly onto HBO Max for free again, right? They'll be lucky to make back their budget, let alone the millions they spend on marketing and promotion."

Yeah but HBO MAX is not free, soyourpoint there misses the mark. There is ahistory of movies makingprofit once it starts to air on TV, both basic and premium cable."



You're very naive if you think In the Heights is getting any major % of money from their streaming numbers which by all accounts were as bad as the box office.



this was a flop. Great movie but they aren't going to come close to making their money back on this

I guess it’s safe to assume that tired old mantra “you owe no one an explanation” evaded many. Yikes. The time and energy it takes to write these LONG rants needs to be addressed. So many other ways to be more productive. Go outside and touch grass and feel the sun on your skin. Try it.

Nocredits said: "BrodyFosse123 said: "I guess it’s safe to assume that tired old mantra “you owe no one an explanation” evaded many. Yikes. The time and energy it takes to write these LONG rants needs to be addressed. So many other ways to be more productive. Go outside and touch grass and feel the sun on your skin. Try it."

Sure. But I would also say the 'productivity' of the people who take the time to read through,then complain instead of engageabout said "rants" should also be addressed.

"

Bro, I don’t read the rants. I just see these LONG ass rants simply by scrolling. The short ones have more informative content than these 5 paragraphs of rants.