Hamilton is headed to Disney+ more than a year ahead of schedule

It must be nice to have Mickey Mouse on your side. The juggernaut musical Hamilton will be available on Disney+ on Friday, July 3 — nearly a year and a half earlier than originally planned. Both Disney and the show’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, announced that the recording of the smash-hit Broadway musical would debut on Disney’s streaming service, not in theaters. “I’m so grateful to Disney and Disney+ for reimagining and moving up our release to July 4th weekend of this year, in light of the world turning upside down,” Miranda said in the announcement. “I’m so grateful to all the fans who asked for this, and I’m so glad that we’re able to make it happen. I’m so proud of this show. I can’t wait for you to see it.” Disney described the film as “a leap forward in the art of ‘live capture’ which transports its audience into the world of the Broadway show in a uniquely intimate way.” Hamilton premiered on Broadway in 2015 and broke multiple records, including one for the most Tony nominations, and became a box-office blockbuster. The Wall Street Journal confirmed in 2018 that the stage version with the original cast had been filmed, but it was unclear at the time when it might be released. In February, The New York Times and Variety both reported that Disney had purchased the “live capture” of the stage performance, and it was originally slated to be released in October 2021. Disney+ isn’t done growing anytime soon. The streaming service is scheduled to launch in 42 new countries and 11 new territories in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa in the summer of 2022, bringing the likes of Disney, Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, and more to an even greater swath of the world. Disney+ currently has more than 118 million subscribers globally.
Due to the surge in case counts of the Omicron COVID-19 variant across the U.S., the early months of 2022 may look a lot like 2021 when it comes to movies. Disney has announced that Pixar’s next animated film, Turning Red, will no longer be released in theaters domestically. Instead, Turning Red will be the latest exclusive movie to debut on Disney+, in March. In a statement, Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution Chairman Kareem Daniel said: “Disney+ subscribers around the world enthusiastically embraced Pixar’s Academy Award-winning Soul and the critically-acclaimed Luca when they premiered exclusively on the service, and we look forward to bringing them Pixar’s next incredible feature film, Turning Red. Given the delayed box office recovery, particularly for family films, flexibility remains at the core of our distribution decisions as we prioritize delivering the unparalleled content of The Walt Disney Company to audiences around the world.” It’s been over a year since we got our first look at the Ring Always Home Cam, the home security drone by Ring. Although information has been scarce, Amazon has finally provided a little bit more news: Namely that the Ring Always Home Cam will be available through an invitation system.