Will 'Hamilton' get a feature film adaptation? Lin-Manuel Miranda weighs in

Will "Hamilton" get the "Wicked" treatment with a feature film adaptation? Be prepared to wait for it − possibly forever.

Lin-Manuel Miranda and his "Hamilton" costars reunited in New York on Sept. 3 for a premiere screening of the filmed version of his Tony-winning Broadway musical, which hits theaters this weekend after being released on Disney+ in 2020.

On the red carpet, Miranda chatted with USA TODAY about the possibility of the show being turned into a movie like the blockbuster "Wicked" film one day. For now, he's not seeing it.

"I have trouble visualizing anyone topping what (director) Thomas Kail has done with this live capture," Miranda said. "If someone can prove to me that they can top it, I'm open to it. But I haven't seen it yet."

But some of the show's other stars aren't as uncertain. Renée Elise Goldsberry, who originated the role of Angelica Schuyler, told USA TODAY she loves the idea of a "Hamilton" movie adaptation and thinks it's inevitable.

"I know that it will happen," she said. "I also know that the odds are pretty low that they'll cast me as Angelica. But I know Lin-Manuel Miranda, and I have a feeling he's going to let me walk through some scene. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to be there, in the room where that is happening."

When asked who could play Angelica if not her, Goldsberry nominated her niece Kayla, who joined her on the red carpet. "She is the future," Goldsberry said. "I cast her!"

Christopher Jackson, who played George Washington on stage, told USA TODAY he thinks a "Hamilton" film would be a "very interesting and fun thing to do," as long as it remained true to Miranda's vision for the show. If so, he'd be eager to reprise the role.

"I love riding horses," he quipped.

Miranda also reflected on how "Hamilton" resonates a bit differently in 2025 compared with when it originally debuted in 2015.

"Based on whatever's going on in the world, different lyrics will hit differently depending on where we are individually and where we are as a country," he told USA TODAY. "'Immigrants, we get the job done,' was a cute laugh in 2015. It is a rallying cry in 2025, when there's so much anti-immigrant rhetoric, sadly, in this country."

'Hamilton' cast gets 'the premiere we never got to have' in 2020

"Hamilton" stars Leslie Odom Jr., Daveed Diggs, Phillipa Soo, Anthony Ramos, Jasmine Cephas Jones and Okieriete Onaodowan also turned out for the screening, which gave the cast an opportunity to have the kind of splashy film premiere that wasn't possible in 2020 when the filmed version of the live stage show released.

The "Hamilton" movie was originally set to debut theatrically in 2021 but was shifted to a Disney+ streaming release in July 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Five years later, it's finally hitting theaters on Friday, Sept. 5, to mark the show's 10th anniversary.

Taking place outdoors at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, it was a rowdy screening where the crowd's cheers regularly drowned out the sound of the cheering crowd within the film itself. With cast members seated in the theater, it was like a concert where the singer is performing on stage and watching in the audience simultaneously; fans directed applause both toward the movie theater screen and the actors seated among them.

During a 10-minute intermission, Goldsberry and Soo mingled with fans and took selfies, and Disney CEO Bob Iger was spotted making his way through the crowd. Busy Philipps, who starred with Goldsberry on "Girls5eva," and Michelle Williams, whose husband, Thomas Kail, directed the film, were also in attendance.

In an introduction before the screening, Miranda noted there were "so many OGs" at the event and joked he has "very few" memories of shooting the filmed version of the show because "we were really tired."

"But what I remember was thinking there will never be a group of superheroes like this under one roof again, and I'm so happy to see you all again and that we all get to share this one more time, and get the premiere we never got to have five years ago," he said.

Given "Hamilton" premiered in 2015 at the Public Theater, which also operates the venue hosting the screening, Miranda also described the evening as a "full circle moment."