What is Tick Tick Boom! about?

The musical isn’t a staple on Netflix‘s roster, but the platform has dabbled more than once in the art form from movies like The Prom to series like the ill-fated Soundtrack and the fan favorite Julie and the Phantoms. It’s a direction the streamer seems to want to carve a lane in. Once again, the platform is returning viewers to bright lights, dance numbers and stunning visuals, this time with an adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s autobiographical musical, Tick Tick Boom!

Directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the film will chart the creator of Rent‘s life in New York City as he strives to write something that will leave a mark on the world. Life, however, is steadily passing by, making him hyper-aware of time and the reality of its running out.

Andrew Garfield will star as Jon in the musical, a man who feels his dreams before him stretched out yet so close but is finding it difficult to reach them. His girlfriend Susan (Alexandra Shipp) wants a life outside of New York City, wishing for their art to flourish away from this city of dreams and despair.

His friend Michael (Robin de Jesús) has walked away from his artistic passion for financial stability and security, accepting that his dreams won’t be realized in the way he once thought. All around them, communities are ravaged by the AIDS epidemic. Time, it seems, is on no one’s side.

Read on for more information on Tick Tick Boom!, a musical that promises to be heartbreaking as much as it is beautiful and inspiring.

Tick Tick Boom! synopsis

The official synopsis per Netflix:

"Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Lin-Manuel Miranda makes his feature directorial debut with tick, tick…BOOM!, an adaptation of the autobiographical musical by Jonathan Larson, who revolutionized theater as the creator of Rent. The film follows Jon (Academy Award nominee and Tony Award winner Andrew Garfield), a young theater composer who’s waiting tables at a New York City diner in 1990 while writing what he hopes will be the next great American musical. 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?"

The themes explored in the film will be familiar to fans of Miranda’s work with Hamilton, as his most iconic play focused on a man who felt like time was slipping away. Jon may not write like he’s running out of time, but his big dreams tick inside him like a bomb waiting to explode. He’s determined to do something great before it’s too late.

Tick Tick Boom! release date

An official release date has yet to be announced for Tick Tick Boom! However, the film is expected to premiere on Netflix in the fall of 2021. It will also make its debut in select theaters. For a glimpse of the movie magic on display in this musical watch the trailer below:

Will you be singing along to Tick Tick Boom! come the fall?