Lin-Manuel Miranda Recreates ‘Rent’ Creator’s Life in First Teaser for Netflix’s ‘tick, tick…BOOM!’

Netflix has released the teaser for Lin-Manuel Miranda‘s feature directorial debut, tick, tick…BOOM!, which is set to follow Rent creator Jonathan Larson. The musical film will follow the mastermind from his early oughts, all the way into his thrilling career that revolutionized theater. The film, which is an adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s autobiographical stage musical, is set to release on Netflix and in limited theaters this Fall.

Set in New York City in the 1990s, a young theater composer (Andrew Garfield) is waiting tables at a diner while he tries to get his feet off the ground and land on Broadway. He hopes he’ll be the next great American musical writer, but he hears the clock ticking, signaling how much time he has until inspiration runs out. But that clock is also inspiration, giving him a steady beat to draft lyrics, harmonies, and percussion. Jonathan is at a crossroads, and reckons with a universal question: “What are we meant to do with the time we have?”

“Lately I’ve been hearing this sound — like a tick, tick, tick,” Jonathan narrates in the teaser. “Like a time bomb. The fuse has been lit. The clock counts down the seconds. The flame gets closer and closer and closer until, all at once, everything explodes.”

The teaser shows Garfield stepping into the brilliant mind of Larson, singing and dancing around New York City. He twists reality, writing songs and creating setpieces in his mind. The teaser ends on a sneak preview of “Louder Than Words,” a song from the original Tick Tick… Boom! musical.

Along with Garfield, the tick, tick…BOOM! cast includes Alexandra Shipp, Robin de Jesús, Joshua Henry, MJ Rodriguez, Bradley Whitford, Tariq Trotter, Judith Light, and Vanessa Hudgens. Miranda, who starred in a 2014 stage production of Tick, Tick…Boom! will direct and executive produce the film alongside Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, and Steven Levenson. Levenson, also known for writing the Dear Evan Hansen book, wrote the screen adaption.

Scroll up to watch the first teaser above.