Watch the First 8 Minutes of “In The Heights”
Get a peek at why critics adore In The Heights by enjoying the first eight minutes of the film. Warner Bros. has made the opening available, and we’ve embedded it for your viewing pleasure, and it’ll give you a good sense of why this is going to be such a blast to see on the big screen.
In the Heights is centered on Usnavi (Anthony Ramos), a bodega owner with big dreams living in the largely Hispanic-American neighborhood of Washington Heights in New York City. When we spoke with music supervisor Bill Sherman last Friday (that interview will be published this week), he told us the original inspiration for the off-Broadway play was the music he and his roommate at the time, Lin-Manuel Miranda, would hear on their walk from their apartment on 200th and Broadway to 180th and Broadway, every Sunday night, to watch The Sopranos at Miranda’s parents’ place. Now here we are, some 13-years later, and the film adaptation from playwright and screenwriter Quiara Alegría Hudes and director Jon M. Chu is here. The opening reveals just how seamlessly the transition from stage to screen has been made, from Miranda’s original inspiration to a big, bold film.
The cast is terrific—joining Ramos are Corey Hawkins, Melissa Barrera, Leslie Grace, Olga Merediz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Gregory Diaz IV, Stephanie Beatriz, Dascha Polanco, and Jimmy Smits.
Here’s the official synopsis from Warner Bros.:
The creator of “Hamilton” and the director of “Crazy Rich Asians” invite you to a cinematic event, where the streets are made of music and little dreams become big… “In the Heights.”
Lights up on Washington Heights…The scent of a cafecito caliente hangs in the air just outside of the 181st Street subway stop, where a kaleidoscope of dreams rallies this vibrant and tight-knit community. At the intersection of it all is the likeable, magnetic bodega owner Usnavi (Anthony Ramos), who saves every penny from his daily grind as he hopes, imagines and sings about a better life.
“In the Heights” fuses Lin-Manuel Miranda’s kinetic music and lyrics with director Jon M. Chu’s lively and authentic eye for storytelling to capture a world very much of its place, but universal in its experience.
Check out the opening here. In The Heights hits theaters and HBO Max on June 11.
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Featured image: Caption: (L -r) NOAH CATALA as Graffiti Pete, GREGORY DIAZ IV as Sonny, COREY HAWKINS as Benny and ANTHONY RAMOS as Usnavi in Warner Bros. Pictures’ “IN THE HEIGHTS,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Macall Polay
