Disney+ Original Movie World's Best Premiere Date Announced

On Monday, Disney+ announced that World's Best, the upcoming "hip-hop musical comedy adventure" produced by the director of Hamilton, will debut exclusively on Disney+ on June 23rd. Utkarsh Ambudkar (Ghosts, Free Guy) stars in the film, which also co-wrote and co-executive produced. Ambudkar also co-wrote World's Best's original songs. "We are all really excited to be bringing this film to Disney+," Ambudkar said in a press release. "It's got dope music and great comedy, and it brings up some important themes in a really accessible way. It's emotional, it's full of love and amazing energy and is a film the entire family can watch together. Plus, it presents for the first time a South Asian family at the core of a Disney movie--something I never had growing up--and was something I really wanted to give young people today."

In World's Best, "12-year-old mathematics genius Prem Patel, in the midst of navigating the tumultuous hardships of adolescence, discovers his recently deceased father was a famous rapper and immediately sets out to pursue a career for himself as a rap superstar. While his actions may appear reckless and the quickest way for him to lose everything, Prem, empowered by imaginative hip-hop music-fueled fantasies where he performs with his father, is determined to find out if hip-hop truly is in his DNA. As his father always used to say, 'the world's best never rest.'"

World's Best cast

Roshan Sethi (7 Days) directed the Disney+ Original Movie. Ambudkar stars alongside Manny Magnus, Punam Patel, Jake Choi, Max Malas, Piper Wallace, Kayla Njeri, Dorian Giordano, Kathryn Greenwood, Christopher Jackson, and Doug E. Fresh. Jamie King & Ambudkar wrote World's Best, with original songs by Ambudkar and Charlie Wilder. Produced by Thomas Kail, who directed the Broadway's Hamilton and produced and directed the 2020 film version, and Kate Sullivan, the film reunites Kail and Ambudkar, who first collaborated as director and performer, respectively, of the improvisational hip-hop comedy musical group Freestyle Love Supreme. Terry Gould and Ambudkar serve as the film's executive producers.

Ambudkar's previous film credits include Brittany Runs a Marathon, Blindspotting, and Pitch Perfect. He was an original member of the New York-based underground hip-hop group The Beatards. which performed alongside Santigold, Azealia Banks, G-Easy, Public Enemy, Questlove, and others, which led to his role in "Pitch Perfect." Ambudkar also played Aaron Burr in developmental readings of Hamilton and later reunited with Lin-Manuel Miranda in the improvisational rap group Freestyle Love Supreme, which received a special Tony Award in 2021. Ambudkar released his debut solo album, Vanity, in 2019, followed that same year by Petty. In 2020, he released The Misfits EP and the single "Self Respect."