Hugh Jackman Shares New Details on Musical Drama THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

In a new article featured in today's EW, song and dance man Hugh Jackman shares new details about the highly anticipated musical film THE GREATEST SHOWMAN, the rags to riches story of circus legend P.T. Barnum. The Tony winner reveals, "Up until La La Land, everyone was saying there hasn't been an original musical in 23 years. So the prevailing thought in Hollywood was, unless you have a brand people know, it's not a done thing. So it just took a long time."

Discussing the music, composed by the LA LA LAND and DEAR EVAN HANSEN duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, Jackman reveals that the tunes will have a current pop sound to them. "We were clear from the beginning that this wouldn't feel like a period movie or a historical piece," the actor 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."

Initially imagined as a traditional biopic, director Michael Gracey tells EW that he felt the addition of song-and-dance numbers would be appropriate for the project. "I said, 'If you're going to call it The Greatest Showman, you should play to your strengths and we should make it a musical,'" he explains. He jokingly adds, "That ridiculous remark cost me seven years of my life."

Read the article in full and check out first look images from THE GREATEST SHOWMAN here!

Starring Hugh Jackman, the P.T. Barnum biopic is led by Michael Gracey in his directorial debut. The movie features a screenplay by SEX & THE CITY scribe Jenny Bicks and BIG HERO 6's Jordan Roberts, with a subsequent draft written by DREAMGIRLS's Bill Condon and the final draft by THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU's Jonathan Tropper. Tony-nominated and Academy Award winning songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, whose credits include A CHRISTMAS STORY, DEAR EVAN HANSEN and LA LA LAND have written the score, with musical contributions by Brian Lapin, Bonnie McKee and Jake Shears.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos