Hamilton won't be eligible for an Oscar next year

For fans who have been waiting years to see the Tony-award winning musical Hamilton from artistic genius Lin-Manuel Miranda, their time finally arrived on Friday when Disney Plus added the film version of the hit Broadway show to its streaming platform. But even with the Hamilton film already a streaming and ratings success, it will not be eligible for the Oscars.Although past musical film adaptations have been eligible for Academy Awards, recent rule changes have eliminated Hamilton’s chance at sweeping the award show, because LBR, it was gonna sweep. In 1965, Othello was nominated for four Oscars followed by 1976’s Give 'em Hell, Harry!, which was nominated for one. As noted by ComicBook.com, the Academy has since changed their eligibility wording, stating "Works that are essentially promotional or instructional are not eligible, nor are works that are essentially unfiltered records of performances." For those keeping track, Miranda is currently only missing the ‘O’ in EGOT bingo. Come on, Academy![video_embed id='1988839']Related: Does the 'Hamilton' experience hold up at home?[/video_embed]Hamilton was originally scheduled to open in theatres in October but moved to Disney Plus following the global closure of movie theatres due to the ongoing pandemic. Following its 2015 debut, Hamilton has been deemed one of the greatest musicals of all time, winning 11 Tony awards in 2016 and a Pulitzer Prize. Although the film, which was shot in 2016, won’t be eligible for an Oscar, it may still take home an Emmy or two. Or three. The eligibility window for this year’s Primetime Emmys closed on May 31, just three days before Hamilton arrived on Disney Plus, but the film will be eligible for next year’s ceremony.Disney won the bidding war for the rights to the Hamilton stage production film for $75 million, but Miranda retains the rights to the story, which means he holds the power to make Hamilton into a scripted feature film (Disney would have greenlit that project faster than you can say Alexander Hamilton). The film adaption of Miranda’s Tony award-winning In The Heights was set to open in theatres last month but has been pushed back to June 2021.Following Friday’s streaming premiere of Hamilton, Disney Plus reported a 74 percent increase in downloads of the app in the US and 752,451 downloads worldwide. The film currently sits at a 99 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.In the wake of Hamilton’s release, Miranda has come under fire for ignoring Alexander Hamilton's support of slavery.

with hamilton being released on disney+ tomorrow, here’s a reminder to never romanticise or glorify these characters since many of the founding fathers were slave owners. hamilton wasn’t an abolitionist, he was an anti-immigrant elitist who believed in slavery as an institution. pic.twitter.com/yBTTsrHIuc

— ???? ‎✪ (@egertonsbucky) July 2, 2020

Loved Hamilton but its near erasure of slavery in the narrative is like a musical about Hitler that focuses on the painting.

— Gianmarco Soresi (@GianmarcoSoresi) July 4, 2020

Director Ava DuVernay weighed in, noting that history should be studied in history books, not in art.

Yep. Bought/owned. Believed in manumission, not abolition. Wrote violent filth about Native people. Believed in only elites holding political power and no term limits. And the banking innovation has troubled roots. That’s why I don’t look to art for my history. I study history. https://t.co/CNnjOWMnyq

— Ava DuVernay (@ava) July 3, 2020

Writer Roxanne Gay also tweeted about Hamilton, acknowledging that a piece of art can be imperfect and important at the same time.

I have a lot of thoughts about Hamilton and the way it idealizes the founders, and how such a brilliant musical dangerously elides they realities of slavery but Leslie Odom Jr. put his FOOT in that performance. So talented.

— roxane gay (@rgay) July 4, 2020

Miranda responded to criticism by Netflix podcast host Tracy Clayton, calling the comments ‘valid’ and adding that he wrestled with how to present the historical figures in a limited amount of time. Still deserves that EGOT.

Appreciate you so much, @brokeymcpoverty. All the criticisms are valid. The sheer tonnage of complexities & failings of these people I couldn’t get. Or wrestled with but cut. I took 6 years and fit as much as I could in a 2.5 hour musical. Did my best. It’s all fair game. https://t.co/mjhU8sXS1U

— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) July 6, 2020

[video_embed id='1990978']Related: Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cast of 'Hamilton' discuss inclusion, history, and change[/video_embed]