There’s been a fair amount of hype surrounding Lin Manuel Miranda‘s newest cinematic project, In The Heights, which is based on his own original musical of the same name that first premiered in 2005. The film adaptation was originally supposed to release June 26, 2020, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic almost an entire year to June 11, 2021, where it will release simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max. Now that the seemingly more solidified release date is drawing near, Miranda took the opportunity to promote his upcoming film at this year’s Oscars by taking a second to introduce the brand new trailer as the ceremony went to a commercial break.
The new film, which was directed by Jon M. Chu and written by original book and stage play writer Quiara Alegria Hudes. It stars Ariana Greenblatt, Stephanie Beatriz, Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins and features a smaller role played by Miranda himself. It takes place in New York’s Dominican neighborhood of Washington Heights and follows Ramos as Usnavi del la Vega, a bodega owner who spends his days dreaming of a better life.
The new trailer comes shortly after the release of the film’s first (and title) track, which was released by Atlantic Records last week. The film was initially set to release June 18, but recently director Chu took to Twitter to announce that the film would be releasing one week earlier.
“Surprise. We coming to Theaters one week earlier!!!” Chu’s tweet reads. “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.”