Fox has released their first trailer for The Greatest Showman. What is The Greatest Showman? It’s an original musical, starring Hugh Jackman as world-class huckster P.T. Barnum, about the birth of the circus industry. Given that it arrives at the tail end of the very year that Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus finally closed up shop, it’s timing couldn’t be greater. If that weren’t enough, it also happens to star an impressive cast that also includes Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, and Zendaya…
This looks pretty vibrant and fun, although it’s insanely odd that the marketing is mostly hiding the fact that it is a musical. I’m sure future trailers will better reveal that, but it’s a strange way to first introduce the public to the film. Still, few subjects are more fitting for a bombastic musical than the circus. Now the question that remains is will this be a loving tribute to a show business of times past or will it also showcase some of the darker, seedier elements of the circus?
The Greatest Showman is an original musical coming to us courtesy of 20th Century Fox. The picture is directed by Michael Gracey, from a screenplay by Michael Arndt, Bill Condon, and Jenny Bicks, with original music composed by Pasek & Paul. The film is produced by Hugh Jackman and Laurence Mark. It stars Hugh Jackman as ‘P.T. Barnum’, Rebecca Ferguson as ‘Jenny Lind’, Zac Efron as ‘Phillip’, Michelle Williams as ‘Charity Barnum’, Zendaya as ‘Anne’, Paul Sparks as ‘James Gordon Bennett’, Diahann Carroll as ‘Joice Heth’, Yahya Abdul-Mateen as ‘WD Wheeler’, and Natasha Liu Bordizzo as ‘Deng Yan’. Fredric Lehne, Austyn Johnson, Jamie Jackson, Will Swenson, Keala Settle, Ellis Rubin, and Skylar Dunn also star.
The Greatest Showman opens in theaters on December 25th, 2017.
