Andrew Garfield joins Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tick, Tick... Boom! Netflix movie
Andrew Garfield has landed an explosive role at the center of Lin-Manuel Miranda‘s feature directorial debut.
EW has confirmed the Oscar-nominated Hacksaw Ridge and The Amazing Spider-Man star will front Miranda’s Tick, Tick… Boom! at Netflix, leading the adaptation of Rent playwright Jonathan Larson’s autobiographical, Off Broadway show of the same name. Deadline first reported the news.
Garfield is set to play Jon, a role based on Larson, who died shortly before the opening preview of his subsequent Pulitzer-winning production, Rent, in the movie musical about a 29-year-old playwright’s lofty ambitions for success. Between waiting tables in New York City, Jon, an aspiring theater composer, spends his days writing a production called Superbia, which he hopes will finally give him a big break into the theater industry. Despite his goals, Jon feels pressure from his girlfriend, Susan, who’s exhausted by putting her life on hold for her partner’s dreams, while Jon’s best friend and roommate, Michael, has seemingly sold his soul to the corporate devil after abandoning his creative prospects to take a job on Madison Avenue.
The theater production of Tick, Tick… Boom! began as a solo presentation in 1990, with David Auburn reworking the material in 2001 to include three actors.
“Tick, Tick… Boom! first entered my life in college when I was lucky enough to snag a seat at the Jane Street Theater in 2001,” Miranda previously said of the film in a press statement. “Jonathan Larson’s captivating storytelling in Rent first taught me that musicals could be contemporary, true to life, and depict your own experiences. But it was Tick, Tick… Boom! that solidified that drive in me to hone my own voice as a playwright. On stage, playing the role of ‘Jon’ in 2014 was one of my most honored achievements. To now have the opportunity to make my film directorial debut, in collaboration with the Larson Family and this incredible creative team, and to adapt a work I love so deeply, is a humbling privilege. Together, we aim to honor Jonathan’s legacy and continue to position his work to inspire the next generation of storytellers.”
Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer and Ron Howard will produce the film alongside Miranda and Julie Oh. Steven Levenson, the Dear Evan Hanson playwright who also wrote FX’s critically lauded Fosse/Verdon miniseries, adapted the script from Larson’s original stage show.
Garfield, who recently guest-judged the inaugural episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, will next appear in Gia Coppola’s Mainstream and opposite Jessica Chastain in The Eyes of Tammy Faye biopic. As an actor, Miranda has lined up appearances in the upcoming HBO series His Dark Materials as well as in the feature film adaptation of his In the Heights stage show.
A release date for Tick, Tick, Boom! and further casting details have yet to be announced.
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