Hip-hop mogul Jay-Z has boarded the film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway hit In The Heights as a producer.
The Tony Award-winning musical, which follows a group of Latinos living in the Washington Heights neighbourhood of New York City, enjoyed a three-year run on Broadway until 2011, and it is currently being turned into a movie backed by officials at the Weinstein Company.
On Saturday (February 25), studio co-founder Harvey Weinstein announced the latest development in the project, introducing Jay-Z as one of six producers of In The Heights as he and his pregnant wife Beyonce attended the Weinstein Company’s pre-Oscars party at the Montage in Beverly Hills, California, reports the New York Post’s Page Six.
Miranda was also present at the bash, which featured a performance medley of In The Heights tunes by Broadway stars Cynthia Erivo, Corbin Bleu and Christopher Jackson.
G.I. Joe: Retaliation filmmaker Jon M. Chu will direct the big screen adaptation, from a screenplay written by top playwright Quiara Alegria Hudes, who penned the book for the stage production.
Lyricist Miranda, who also tackled the lead role of Usnavi in the Broadway show, is not expected to reprise his character onscreen, although he will serve as another producer.
In The Heights is expected to begin filming this spring, almost 10 years after the musical was first tapped for a Hollywood adaptation by Universal Pictures bosses.
At the time, Kenny Ortega had been brought onboard to direct, but Universal subsequently dropped out of the project, only for Weinstein and co. to swoop in and get the film back on track.
Jay-Z signed a two-year first-look production deal with the Weinstein Company last year.
