Can’t Believe It! Lin-Manuel Miranda’s ‘Warriors’ Will Be an Album, NOT a Musical!

Lin-Manuel Miranda has teamed up with Eisa Davis to co-author “Warriors,” a concept album that draws inspiration from the 1979 cult classic film “The Warriors,” which was originally based on Sol Yurick’s 1965 novel bearing the same title.

This 26-track album, which features a host of notable artists, has been produced by Mike Elizondo and executive produced by Nas. The album will hit the shelves on October 18, courtesy of Atlantic Records.

“Over the last three years, we have been working on the musical adaptation of the Warriors’ journey from the South Bronx to Coney Island,” said Miranda and Davis in a shared statement. “We have had the opportunity to collaborate with many of our favorite artists along the way, and we’ll be revealing their roles on the album in the coming weeks.”

Rumors of Miranda’s involvement in a “Warriors” project sprang up last year, leading many to believe he was working on a stage show. However, as reported last month, the project is actually a concept album, a format that Miranda is no stranger to, having first conceived his Broadway sensation “Hamilton” as such.

“Warriors” narrates the tale of a fictional gang in New York City journeying from Coney Island to the Bronx and back, having been falsely accused of murdering a revered gang leader.

Yurick’s novel, a modern interpretation of Xenophon’s “Anabasis,” which tells the story of a famous military expedition involving 10,000 soldiers in ancient Greece, was penned with the intention of challenging the romanticized depictions of gang life in popular works like “West Side Story”. Instead, Yurick drew from his own encounters with young gang members during his tenure as a social investigator for New York City’s welfare department.

“His aim was to illustrate that street gangs, which are often viewed as a sign of societal dysfunction, provided a sense of community and loyalty to the underprivileged,” Eric Homberger wrote in Yurick’s 2013 obituary published by the Guardian. “They were not sick or evil, merely impoverished.”

Despite receiving initial negative reviews upon its release — The Times deemed the Paramount Pictures adaptation by David Shaber and director Walter Hill as “a stylish but superficial depiction of gang violence that caters to disgruntled young viewers” — the film has since gained a cult following, and has been referenced by the Wu-Tang Clan and even adapted into a video game.

Over time, the film has garnered more favorable reviews: “The film is akin to visual rock, bursting with vigor,” wrote Pauline Kael in the New Yorker in 2014. “It masterfully blends ironic humor, great music, and beautifully shot suspense, making it one of the best films of 1979,” Time Out opined in 2015.

Miranda, known for his creation of “Hamilton,” also crafted the musical “In the Heights” and has contributed to Broadway renditions of “New York, New York” and “West Side Story.” He has also penned original songs for Disney films such as “Moana,” “Encanto,” and the forthcoming “Mufasa: The Lion King.”

Davis, on the other hand, is known for her plays “Angela’s Mixtape,” “The History of Light,” and “Bulrusher,” the latter of which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in drama. She also writes for television (Netflix’s “She’s Gotta Have It”) and has acted on Broadway in “Passing Strange”.