20th Century Fox has released the firstThe Greatest Showmanimages. The original musical is based on the life of P.T. Barnum and follows him from his poverty-stricken childhood to the launch of his first circus in New York.Hugh Jackmanstars as Barnum alongsideZac Efron, who plays Barnum’s business partner. That character in turn falls in love with a trapeze artist played byZendaya.Michelle Williamsco-stars as Barnum’s wife Charity.
The movie was originally a traditional biopic but changed into a musical following a suggestion from directorMichael Gracey. “I said, ‘If you’re going to call itThe Greatest Showman, you should play to your strengths and we should make it a musical,’” the director tellsEW. “That ridiculous remark cost me seven years of my life.”
Those songs will be handled byLa La Land’s Oscar-winning duoBenj PasekandJustin Paul, and they’ll be made to sound like current pop hits. “We were clear from the beginning that this wouldn’t feel like a period movie or a historical piece,” Jackman says. “What would Barnum do now? I have an almost-12-year-old daughter. I wanted [the movie] to be as exciting for her as listening to Katy Perry’s new song.” While that ahistorical take may be a bit grating to some, I think it could work if the music is good. Also, how grumpy do you have to be to argue, “Well this doesn’t sound like music from the mid-1800s at all, and I know my mid-1800s music!”
Hopefully we’ll be getting a trailer for this soon, and it should be interesting to see how Jackman tackles this musical. While he’s an outstanding performer, I thinkLes Miserablesgave him a little too much room to maneuver and he tended to lapse into sing-speaking. Then again,Les Miserableshad a host of problems, so hopefullyThe Greatest Showmandoes Jackman’s talents justice.
The Greatest Showmanopens December 25th.
