Marc Anthony Joins Lin-Manuel Miranda’s ‘In the Heights’ Movie

The Nuyorican link up we’ve all been waiting for is finally happening!

Marc Anthony has joined the cast of the movie adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony-winning musical In the Heights, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. News of the Latin music star’s casting was also announced on the Hamilton creator’s Twitter account.   

“Okay, I actually can’t hold it in anymore. Sonny’s father will be played by @MarcAnthony. It’s a brief but pivotal role… And I still can’t believe it,” Miranda tweeted.

Okay I actually can't hold it in anymore.
Sonny's father will be played by @MarcAnthony.
It's a brief but pivotal role.
…And I still can't believe it.#InTheHeightsMovie pic.twitter.com/WC9M0eiraY

— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) June 6, 2019

Though Anthony won’t have a great deal of screen time, we’re ready to see what he’s got. It’s been 13 years since the Grammy Award-winning artist has had a big-screen role, starring in the 2006 Hector Lavoe biopic El Cantante, alongside his ex-wife, Jennifer Lopez. He also appeared on the medical drama Hawthorne and had a supporting role in Man on Fire starring Denzel Washington.

Anthony will portray the father of Sonny, the character played by Gregory Diaz IV. Sonny is the younger cousin of the lead character Unsavi, played by Hamilton star Anthony Ramos. It chronicles a bodega owner who is torn about closing his store and retiring to the Dominican Republic after inheriting his grandmother’s fortune.

Anthony’s In The Heights castmates include Broadway star Daphne Rubin-Vega, Corey Hawkins, Jimmy Smits, Stephanie Beatriz of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Dascha Polanco of Orange Is the New Black, Melissa Barrera of Vida, and singer Leslie Grace.

Based on Quiara Alegría Hudes’ book, In the Heights, features music and lyrics by Miranda. The show opened on Broadway in March 2008 and was nominated for 13 Tony Awards, winning four: Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Choreography and Best Orchestrations. In the Heights won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album and was also nominated for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

The movie-meets-musical will be directed by John M. Chu of Crazy Rich Asians and produced by Anthony Bregman, Mara Jacobs, and Scott Sanders. The movie’s script will be written by Hudes.

In the Heights will hit theaters on June 26, 2020.