In the Heights to Open the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival with Five Simultaneous Outdoor Screenings

Ale Russian
·2 min read

Macall Polay Anthony Ramos and Melissa Barrera in In the Heights

The 2021 Tribeca Film Festival will be kicking off with quite the bang.

The festival's opening movie on June 9 will be In the Heights, the highly-anticipated movie adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's hit Broadway musical.

To make it even more special, the opening will take place in Washington Heights, the Manhattan neighborhood where Miranda grew up and based the musical in.

"It is such an honor to open the 20th anniversary Tribeca Film Festival with In the Heights. We're so excited to welcome them uptown! This will be an unforgettable night at the United Palace. We can't wait to share this musical love letter to our community, with our community, in our community," Miranda shared in a press release.

The movie will also get the special honor of being screened simultaneously in all five of Manhattan's boroughs at open-air venues.

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Macall Polay

Last month, director Jon M. Chu revealed the movie will now debut in theaters and on HBO Max a week before its already rescheduled date. And it's all thanks to the fan reception of two new trailers that dropped last month.

"Surprise. We coming to Theaters one week earlier!!!" wrote Chu, 41, in a tweet. "There has been so much demand since our trailer release this week that we decided to get it out to you sooner. Let's gooooooooooooo!!!! See you soon. JUNE 11th 2021."

The movie was originally scheduled for June 2020 before the COVID-19 health crisis pushed it back a whole year to June 18, 2021. It will now debut a week earlier on June 11.

The film stars Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Melissa Barrera, Leslie Grace, Olga Merediz, Dascha Polanco, Stephanie Beatriz and an array of others, including singer Marc Anthony. Miranda also makes a cameo.

The 2021 Tribeca Film Festival runs June 9-20. The full film and event lineup will be revealed at a later date.