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Lin-Manuel Miranda Leaving ‘Hamilton’ To Pursue Other Projects

By Jayce Wagner
Published on: 06:15 PST, Jun 2, 2016

Lin-Manuel Miranda, the star and creator of Broadway smash-hit Hamilton, will reportedly be leaving the show to pursue other projects in the coming months.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Miranda is set to take his final bow as Alexander Hamilton on July 9, right around the same time that the original cast’s contracts will reportedly expire. Miranda has a number of other projects lined up after his star-making turn as Alexander Hamilton in the Hamilton musical, which he also wrote and produced.

Miranda leaves Hamilton right around the time that the musical is expected to sweep the upcoming Tony Awards – after scoring a record-setting 16 nominations. It certainly won’t be the last fans will see of Lin-Manuel Miranda, who already has a full plate of other obligations. He’s set to star in Disney’s upcoming Mary Poppins Returns alongside Emily Blunt, and he penned the music featured in Disney’s upcoming film Moana.

Lin-Manuel Miranda also contributed to another major film franchise by penning and performing the new cantina song in Star Wars: The Force Awakens titled “Jabba Flow.” Miranda reportedly landed the gig after director J.J. Abrams saw an early performance of Hamilton and asked him to come aboard. For this year’s “May the Fourth,” Miranda and Abrams even performed the song on the steps of the Broadway theater featuring Hamilton.

For Lin-Manuel Miranda, leaving Hamilton will be bittersweet. The Broadway musical has made Miranda into a household name, it helped keep Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill, and it even scored Miranda a Pulitzer Prize. Hamilton has also broken down barriers with its unconventional casting, with a nearly all non-white cast. The musical has also made this year’s Tony Awards much more racially diverse, with 14 nominations going to black, Hispanic, and Asian-American actors.

Additionally, an earlier Miranda stage play will be adapted into a motion picture following the success of Hamilton. Miranda’s In the Heights was picked up by the Weinstein Company, with Miranda attached to produce. In the Heights depicts the lives of the Latino community in New York City’s Washington Heights neighborhood. Back in 2008, In the Heights won a Tony Award for best musical and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. While it’s admittedly less famous than Miranda’s blockbuster Hamilton, the New York-themed musical is likely to benefit from Hamilton-mania.

With Lin-Manuel Miranda leaving Hamilton this year, fans are eager to find out just who could fill his shoes as the titular Alexander Hamilton. While it’s likely that Miranda’s understudy, Javier Munoz, will take the role, Vanity Fair has some unusual picks if Hamilton producers decide to take a more unorthodox route.

Among Vanity Fair’s picks to replace Miranda as Hamilton are Amy Schumer, Kanye West, Chance the Rapper, and, of course, outgoing President Barack Obama. Naturally, any of the aforementioned choices would make for a spectacular, and unique, version of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, but Munoz is the likely choice. Munoz also took over for Miranda when he left In the Heights back in 2009.

Miranda’s exit comes a little after the Tony Awards, and given Hamilton’s chances at the awards show, it’s likely the original cast will walk away with a stack of new accolades which should serve them well in their upcoming contract negotiations. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the original cast will be pushing for salary increases, as the popularity of Hamilton has skyrocketed over the past few months. Sources speaking with THR confirm that members of the original cast are prepared to make their exits as well if they don’t secure a pay increase, which shouldn’t be a problem for the Broadway musical — it’s raking in around $1.9 million a week.

[Photo by Matthew Eisman/Getty Images]

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