Disney Reportedly Paid $75 Million For The Rights To Distribute 'Hamilton'

When we cover the annual festival circuit, there’s almost near-constant news of the biggest and best films from the events getting snatched up by distributors for absurd sums of money. Just last week, Andy Samberg’s latest Sundance film’s rights were purchased for a record total of $17.5 million (…and 69 cents, ugh.) But even the biggest festival purchase pales in comparison to the money Disney reportedly forked over for the rights to distribute the filmed version of the “Hamilton” stage production.

According to Deadline, Disney secured the distribution rights to “Hamilton,” with the 160-minute film arriving in 2021, for an astonishing $75 million. Nope, I didn’t forget a decimal point. That’s seventy-five million dollars. The report claims that it very well could be the biggest distribution acquisition in history.

READ MORE: Disney Is Bringing A Filmed Performance Of ‘Hamilton’ To Theaters In 2021 Featuring The Original Cast

For comparison’s sake, that total is more than the reported budget for “Joker,” which went on to earn more than $1 billion last year. It’s also more than four times the arguably-inflated price of the aforementioned Samberg film, “Palm Springs.” If nothing else, it’s proof that, once again, Disney owns the world and spend the cost of a blockbuster film to obtain the rights to a Broadway musical that millions of folks have already seen.

Granted, the fact that this version of “Hamilton” is recorded with the original cast, two weeks before they disbanded, is a huge incentive. But still, when you spend $75 million, plus we have to assume a healthy amount to market the film, Disney is clearly hoping that “Hamilton” will earn serious cash at the box office.

READ MORE: Distributors Have Spent Millions On 2020 Sundance Films Including ‘Palm Springs,’ ‘Uncle Frank’ & More

To say that a purchase like this is unprecedented is an understatement. $75 million is a ridiculous amount even if we’re talking a fully-produced feature film. But in this case, we’re talking about a filmed live performance of a Broadway musical. This is normally the type of thing that Fathom Events would release for one or two nights mid-week in select theaters.

That being said, we are talking about “Hamilton.” And Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical isn’t your run-of-the-mill theatrical event. It’ll just be interesting to see how Disney plans on recouping its investment when “Hamilton” opens in theaters on October 15, 2021.