NEW YORK (AFP) - A big-screen version of smash hit musical Hamilton is coming to movie theatres in 2021, its creator announced on Monday (Feb 3).

The show - which has become one of the highest grossing Broadway musicals of all time since its 2015 debut - tells the story of Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers of the United States.

The show's creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also stars in Hamilton, said the film would be a live performance of show at New York's Richard Rodgers Theatre that comprised the original cast.

It will be distributed by Disney and released on Oct 15, 2021, he said in a tweet. Variety magazine said it would get theatrical runs in the US and Canada.

Hamilton has made US$633 million (S$867 million) in box office receipts and has been seen by 2.5 million people in New York alone since arriving on Broadway in August 2015, according to Broadway.com.

A production of Hamilton has also been on in London's West End since 2017 and a three-year tour of the show just ended in Chicago.

Mixing political history with rap and hip-hop, the show won 11 Tony Awards in 2016, including best musical.

Another of Miranda's musicals, In The Heights, has been adapted for theatres and is due out in June.