'In The Heights' Trailer: Oprah Winfrey, Dwayne Johnson, Hugh Jackman & More Praise The Movie Musical
When a movie gets close to hitting the big screen, movie studios often like to use marketing with testimonials from real people who have seen early screenings of the film. However, since studios aren't quite back to normal when it comes to their pre-release marketing routines, the new In the Heights trailer relies on testimonials from big name celebrities. The likes of Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne Johnson took the time to praise the movie musical from director Jon M. Chu and Broadway show creator Lin-Manuel Miranda by recording a quick video on their phones. Celebrities! They're just like us.
In the Heights Trailer
Hugh Jackman and Ariana Grande joined Oprah and The Rock (new band name, called it) in recording testimonials from their phones, wherever they happened to be, praising the new movie that brings lively music and vibrant visuals to Washington Heights.
But that's not all. Because some celebrities aren't so good at using their phones to record videos. Thankfully, they have access to Twitter, where they also posted their love for the movie. Jimmy Fallon, Elizabeth Banks, Justina Machado, Jessica Marie Garcia, Josh Gad, Isabella Gomez, Bradley Whitford, Kristin Chenoweth, Yvette Nicole Brown, and Rosie O'Donnell all have their posts on Twitter highlighted. Even MTV correspondent and Happy Sad Confused podcast host Josh Horowitz gets thrown in there.
These are all typical marketing strategies to drum up hype. But what I don't remember seeing in trailers until this new peek at In the Heights came along is clips from morning news shows and talk shows, followed by flashes of covers from TIME Magazine and Variety and photo spreads for The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times. Oh, and then there's a shot of some kind of crossover promotion with the video game Roblox? Okay!
In the Heights stars Anthony Ramos (Broadway's Hamilton), Corey Hawkins (Straight Outta Compton), singer Leslie Grace, Melissa Barrera (Vida), Olga Merediz (Broadway's In the Heights), Daphne Rubin-Vega (Broadway's Rent), Gregory Diaz (Broadway's Matilda the Musical), Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Dascha Polanco (Orange is the New Black), and Jimmy Smits (The West Wing).
For more on In the Heights, which is currently sitting pretty with a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, be sure to read out full review right here. Here's the official synopsis:
The creator of "Hamilton" and the director of "Crazy Rich Asians" invite you to a cinematic event, where the streets are made of music and little dreams become big... "In the Heights."
Lights up on Washington Heights...The scent of a cafecito caliente hangs in the air just outside of the 181st Street subway stop, where a kaleidoscope of dreams rallies this vibrant and tight-knit community. At the intersection of it all is the likeable, magnetic bodega owner Usnavi (Anthony Ramos), who saves every penny from his daily grind as he hopes, imagines and sings about a better life.
"In the Heights" fuses Lin-Manuel Miranda's kinetic music and lyrics with director Jon M. Chu's lively and authentic eye for storytelling to capture a world very much of its place, but universal in its experience.
In the Heights arrives in theaters and on HBO Max (for 31 days) starting on June 10, 2021.