Filmed performance of Broadway's Hamilton to be released in 2020

Filmed performance of Broadway's Hamilton to be released in 2020

“Hamilton” may be coming to movie theaters, exactly as audiences saw it on Broadway.

Hollywood studios are currently bidding for the big-screen rights to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit musical about founding father Alexander Hamilton, according to people involved in sales talks. But in an unusual twist, the “Hamilton” movie won’t be a filmed adaptation. Instead, it is a recording of the show made in 2016 with its original cast, including Mr. Miranda in the lead role.

The world-wide theatrical rights for “Hamilton” could sell for more than $50 million, two of the people with knowledge of the deal talks said. Representatives for the production have recently screened the recording for interested buyers.

Several studios have expressed interest in “Hamilton,” the people with knowledge of the deal talks said. Contenders include AT&T Inc.’s Warner Bros, which in June bought the rights to adapt Mr. Miranda’s musical “In the Heights,” and 21st Century Fox Inc.’s Twentieth Century Fox, which made “The Greatest Showman.”

Netflix Inc. recently bought the rights to stream a recorded version of Bruce Springsteen’s one-man Broadway show for more than $20 million, said people with knowledge of that deal. It is also a potential bidder for “Hamilton,” one of those people said. If the subscription-video company is successful, the show would likely play in few, if any, theaters.

Sellers are asking that the “Hamilton” recording not play in theaters, or stream, until 2020 or 2021, some of the people close to the deal talks said, giving the show at least two more years during which it can only be seen on stage.

The recording of “Hamilton” was made over two nights in New York and is an exact replica of the Broadway production, including an intermission, said one of the people who has seen it.