Back in 2018 The Wall Street Journal announced that the 2016 Broadway hit Hamilton would be making a film debut. The film was not expected to be released until at least 2020. Now, four years after the initial announcement, Lin-Manuel Miranda has confirmed that the Hamilton movie will be released in theaters on Oct. 15, 2021.

The above outlet also reported that the movie would, rather than be presented as an adaptation, be a filmed stage performance of the original cast just before cast members began to leave the production. In an interview with Variety, Miranda stated that this was intentional so as to “steal” any bragging rights from any boastful people who had the good fortune to see the show live in 2016: 

I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we can’t wait to see the smug smirks on those friends’ faces when their holier-than-thou attitude is shut down. 

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via GIPHY

With the film’s official release date comes a massive sigh of relief and shout of excitement from fans everywhere, and for good reason! Miranda has determined the “right time” to release his masterpiece to the masses, which I’m sure is a major personal accomplishment for him.

But while we wait to see our faves on the silver screen, we can take solace in knowing Miranda has other stage-to-screen hits coming along. This coming summer, Warner Bros. plans to roll out a film adaptation of In the Heights, an original musical curated by Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes. If that’s not enough to get you excited, Netflix has also gotten global rights to Tick, Tick…Boom!, which will showcase a star-studded cast, as well as being Miranda’s directorial debut. 

Miranda recently told Variety he planned for the film to be released “hopefully sooner than later.” Lucky for us, sooner has come…even if we have to wait until later.