Fans rejoiced when Disney announced that a theatrical version of the uber-successful Tony-winning musical Hamilton will hit the screens next year, but now a point of concern has risen. The play uses some curses and used as is, a theatrical version will get an R rating. Disney, however, has a strict PG-13 policy. How will the studio reconcile this?
The New York Times reporter, Kyle Buchanan, wondered just that and decided to ask the musical’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, about it. Miranda tried to ease the worries.
“I think we’ll figure it out when we get there,” he said. “But we’re not going to cut any sections of the show. If we have to mute a word here or there to reach the largest audience possible, I’m OK with that, because your kids already have the original language memorized. I don’t think we’re depriving anyone of anything if we mute an f-bomb here or there to make our rating.”
It should be noted that the musical already censors an f-bomb in one of the songs – but it does it for comedic effect. Another song sees Hamilton stopping a curse mid-word. So it remains to be seen what Disney will cut out in the end.
The filmed performance of the original cast at The Richard Rogers Theatre in New York will hit theaters on October 15th, 2021.
