The trailer for "tick, tick... BOOM!" premiered on Monday, which not only stars Andrew Garfield, but marks Lin-Manuel Miranda's directorial debut. Clearly, Miranda has had a busy year.
The film, naturally a musical, is coming to select theaters on November 12, and will premiere on Netflix on November 19. It's an adaptation of an autobiographical musical by Jonathan Larson, who went on to create "Rent," though he died the morning the show premiered off-broadway.
In "tick, tick... BOOM!," Jon is struggling while he approaches his 30th birthday, preparing for the workshop performance of his musical "Superbia" and wondering if he's in the right profession.
As a synopsis for the film in part reads, "With the clock ticking, Jon is at a crossroads and faces the question everyone must reckon with: What are we meant to do with the time we have?"
There is a theme of time and of milestones, but also in a way of faith and providence when it comes to one's purpose.
Townhall covered the release of the teaser trailer when it came out in June, with such coverage also including fascinating tid bits to do with the timeline not just of "tick, tick... BOOM!" but with Larson and "Rent" as well as Miranda's appreciation for theater.
According to Kyle Buchanan's Fall Preview piece for The New York Times, Miranda had Garfield in mind even before he knew he could sing. He also mentions a nice connection he had with Larson's work:
“Here’s this posthumous musical from the guy who made me want to write musicals in the first place,” said Miranda, who’s now made his feature directorial debut with the film.
Miranda saw Garfield in the 2018 Broadway production of “Angels in America” and thought he was “transcendent” in that show. “I just left thinking, ‘Oh, that guy can do anything,’” the director recalled. “I didn’t know if he could sing, but I just felt like he could do anything. So I cast him in my head probably a year before I talked to him about it.”
Miranda put Garfield through his paces, sending him to a vocal coach and ensuring that the actor would be able to play enough piano so the camera could pan from his fingers to his face throughout the film. But those are just the technical aspects of a performance that is impressively possessed: Garfield plays the passionate, frustrated Larson with enough zealous verve to power all the lights on Broadway.
Hedy Phillips writing for Popsugar has more on the connection between Miranda and Garfield:
The project actually came to Garfield when director Lin-Manuel Miranda was speaking with his massage therapist, Gregg Miele — who just so happens to also be Garfield's massage therapist — and asked him if the actor could sing. Garfield told Colbert, "Lin one day goes, 'Hey, Gregg, can Andrew Garfield sing?' And Gregg immediately goes, 'Oh, my God, buddy, he has the most beautiful voice. He's an angel.' ... And then Gregg called [me] and he goes, 'Hey, Andy, can you sing? ... Lin thinks you can sing.'"
Another Miranda project from earlier this year included Netflix's "Vivo," a delightful children's film that's also just as great for adults. Townhall wrote a review of the film in August.
It is, in fact, Garfield singing in the film. A single has also been released of Garfield singing "30/90" from the film.