Box office In the Heights grossed $30 million in the United States and Canada, and $15.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $45.2 million. though an estimate of $10 million to the midteens was also suggested. After grossing $5 million on its first day, weekend estimates were lowered to $13 million. It went on to debut to just $11.5 million, finishing second behind holdover
A Quiet Place Part II. 67% of the audience was over the age of 25, with 63% being female; 40% of the opening weekend audience was Latino. While some analysts, such as Anthony D'Alessandro for
Deadline Hollywood, suggested that the film's underperformance could be partially blamed on its simultaneous release on HBO Max, The film fell 60% in its second weekend, grossing $4.5 million and finishing in sixth.
Streaming viewership According to
Samba TV, the film was streamed on HBO Max by 693,000 households over its first three days of release, lower than previous day-in-date Warner Bros. titles like
Mortal Kombat (3.8 million) and
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (1.6 million). Research firm Screen Engine reported the film was the third-most streamed film across all platforms in its opening weekend behind
Mortal Kombat (which was available via PVOD) and
Awake. By the end of its first month, the film had been streamed in over 1.7 million U.S. households.
Critical response On
review aggregator website
Rotten Tomatoes,
In the Heights holds an approval rating of 94% based on 372 reviews with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads, "Lights up for
In the Heights, a joyous celebration of heritage and community fueled by dazzling direction and singalong songs." On
Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 84 out of 100 based on 55 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by
CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while
PostTrak reported 88% of audience members gave it a positive score, with 67% saying they would definitely recommend it. From
The Hollywood Reporter, David Rooney said: "The movie glows with an abundance of love for its characters, their milieu and the pride with which they defend their cultural footprint against the encroaching forces of New York development that continually shove the marginalized further into the margins. The resilience with which the characters claim their place in the fabric of city life is exhilarating." In his review for
Variety, Peter Debruge praised Chu's direction and wrote: "Like its source, the movie is a blast, one that benefits enormously from being shot on the streets of Washington Heights."
IndieWires David Ehrlich gave the film an A−, saying: "So exuberant and full of life that it would probably convince you the movies were back even if they hadn't gone anywhere,
In the Heights is the kind of electrifying theatrical experience that people have been waxing nostalgic about ever since the pandemic began — the kind that it almost seemed like we might never get to enjoy again... Seeing this massive, guileless, heartfelt piece of Hollywood entertainment on the big screen is like coming home after a long year in exile only to find that it's still there, and maybe even better than you remembered."
A. O. Scott of
The New York Times gave the film a positive review, writing that "It's a piece of mainstream American entertainment in the best sense — an assertion of impatience and faith, a celebration of communal ties and individual gumption, a testimony to the power of art to turn struggles into the stuff of dreams." From
The A.V. Club, Danette Chavez wrote "
In The Heights' slice-of-life portraiture suggests a less ambitious undertaking than
Hamilton, but it tells a story as expansive as that of a fledgling nation. Through both musicals, Miranda demonstrates how ingrained people of color are in this country's history: Before he reimagined a pivotal chapter in United States history with Black and Latino actors, the acclaimed multi-hyphenate threw a spotlight on marginalized people's fight against displacement. At the core of
In The Heights, on stage or screen, is movement—as migration, as immigration, as dancing, as code-switching, as the shift from friends to lovers." Filmmaker
Adele Lim, who worked with Chu on the screenplay of
Crazy Rich Asians, praised the film, saying "In a world with a seemingly limitless appetite for superhero action or meditations on personal violence, Chu’s vision is an unapologetic throwback to the joyful, large-scale musicals of
Kelly,
Astaire and
George Sidney: a pure, dazzling celebration of the best of us." There was slight criticism in terms of the changes to the character of Vanessa. In an article titled "The Generic of
In the Heights" from
The New Yorker, author Frances Negrón-Muntaner states, "The choice to contain Vanessa implies that one does not need to flee downtown and escape one's roots to succeed. That's true enough, but in staying put Vanessa seems to give up her big dreams of crossing over, for man, child, and bodega." K. Austin Collins of
Rolling Stone rated the film three and a half out of five stars. He praised the setting, music, and cast performances of the film, and also wrote that "
In The Heights spins its lively, complicated tale. An aspirational immigrant story, but flows and overlaps and grows dense in unexpected ways. In both Miranda and Chu's trademark style, this is all threaded together with life spilling into the streets, musical numbers that fold reality into fantasy with an aplomb that's as pleasurable as it is overwhelming."
Legacy In 2023, it ranked number 16 on
Time Outs list of "The 40 Best Musical Movies of All Time," saying that it "radiates with love for its predominantly Dominican American characters and the pride they take in preserving their small corner of the big city." It also ranked number 17 on
Screen Rants list of "The 20 Best Musicals of All Time" and number 41 on
Parades list of the "67 Best Movie Musicals of All Time."
MovieWeb ranked it at number 3 on its list of the "Best Recent Musical Movies," calling it "a great example of adapting a stage performance into a movie the right way" and that it "still captures all the necessary essence of the stage version and simultaneously breathes new life into the musical movie genre."
IndieWire ranked it at number 42 on its list of "The 60 Best Movie Musicals of All Time," with David Ehrlich writing that Jon M. Chu "created a film that makes you feel like its characters are dreaming with their eyes open. And while there may be no
Cassiopeia in Washington Heights, a star is born in this movie every time someone appears onscreen... nothing will ever dim the memory of the instant classic that brought them all together." It also ranked number 3 on
/Films list of "The 14 Greatest Movie Musicals of the 21st Century," describing the musical sequences as "acts of
magical realism, an artistic movement that was popularized by Latin American artists in the 1950s - one that is fitting for the movie's characters, setting, and subject matter, as well as inventive for the movie musical form." In February 2025,
The Washington Post ranked
In the Heights at number 6 on its list of "The 25 best movie musicals of the 21st century," with Ty Burr writing "Undeservedly lost in the hosannas for
Hamilton (which reached home screens as
a filmed teleplay rather than a proper movie), this film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's earlier hit is a near-perfect stage-to-screen transfer, a classically structured "street scene" musical with yearning performances, soaring songs and the ethno-rhythmic stew of New York's gentrifying Washington Heights: merengue, bachata, samba, bomba and plena."
Accusations of colorism The film's casting was accused of
colorism by seeming to exclude
Afro-Latino actors with darker skin tones, and hence misrepresenting the demographics of Washington Heights. Miranda publicly apologized shortly after the film's release. Appearing on
The Daily Show, he stressed that while "there's so much in the movie, the beef really was specifically dark-skinned Afro-Latinos in leading roles... and I totally understand that and I receive it and I just have to do better on the next one." Lead actor Ramos also accepted the criticism, stating in an interview with the Associated Press that "there's no debate about it." Actress
Rita Moreno defended Miranda during an interview on
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, saying: "It's like you can never do right, it seems... This is the man who literally has brought
Latino-ness and
Puerto Rican-ness to American [entertainment. ...] They're really attacking the wrong person." The
National Association of Hispanic Journalists called Moreno's comments "unacceptable". She walked back her remarks, later stating, "I was clearly dismissive of Black lives that matter in our Latin community. It is so easy to forget how celebration for some is lament for others".
Accolades == See also ==