In the Heights Cast Hopes to Make a Sequel

The cast of In The Heights is hopeful for a sequel to the hit musical just one day after it made its debut on HBO Max. In The Heights is inspired by Lin-Manuel Miranda’s life growing up in Inwood, an area north of Washington Heights with a similar demographic makeup of Latinx immigrants. He began writing the musical as a sophomore at Wesleyan University where he studied both filmmaking and musical theater.

The musical tells the story of Usnavi, who owns a run-down bodega and employs his self-assured younger cousin, Sonny. Usnavi is in love with Vanessa, but she desperately wants to move out of the neighborhood and into an apartment of her own in Greenwich Village. Usnavi looks out for his Abuela, the neighborhood matriarch who helped to raise the children in the area. His best friend Benny works at the local car service company owned by Mr. Rosario and dreams of being a successful businessman. Meanwhile, Mr. Rosario plans to make the ultimate sacrifice to ensure his daughter, Nina, finishes her studies at Stanford University.

Cast members, Leslie Grace, Melissa Barrera, Jimmy Smits, and Stephanie Beatriz did an interview with ET on the eve of the musical film’s premiere, and revealed they are all hopeful for a sequel. They expressed that if Miranda ever decides to pen another In the Heights film, they are all on board. Read an excerpt from the interview below:

Even if it takes Lin another 20 years to write the sequel, we will all come back… I think that there was nothing that we would love more, Barrera said. But we know writing a musical is not an easy thing to do, so it really all depends on Lin and Quiara there. If one day you wake up and they’re like, ‘I dreamed up the sequel,’ and Lin is inspired and writes the songs, I mean, we’re there.

The extent of any forthcoming sequel to the film lies in its success during the first days of its release. There is currently no script or pre-established story for where the characters go next and the film’s director, Jon Chu, is tapped to film the sequel to his hit Crazy Rich Asians next, so it would be unclear when he would have the time to devote to the preplanning, filming and post-production work necessary to make a sequel to In The Heights a success. The ending of the musical film does leave the story open to more exploration. Whether or not Miranda and his writing partner, Quiara Alegría Hudes, are willing to piggyback on the film’s success has not been revealed.

The original musical production of In The Heights took Miranda four years to finalize and a quick-turnaround sequel seems highly unlikely. However, the idea that the musical’s cast members feel so strongly about the material that they would be willing to return for a second installment, says a lot about Manuel’s effect on those who perform his words and music. If Miranda would be willing to go the sequel route is yet to be seen.