THE GREATEST SHOWMAN: Revisiting the Original Movie Musical

In December of 2017, The Greatest Showman exploded into theaters across the country.  Led by Tony-winner Hugh Jackman, the movie was a smash hit, producing numerous hit songs and serving as one of the most talked-about movie musicals of the twenty-first century so far.

It is only natural then, that a stage adaptation would be developed, an inevitability that was finally confirmed in 2024. Now, an update on the project has revealed that the stage version will be hitting the West End in 2026. With this exciting news, BroadwayWorld is taking a look back at the blockbuster film that inspired the forthcoming stage production!

The Greatest Showman is a starry musical extravaganza featuring Hugh Jackman in the role of showman P. T. Barnum. Jackman, known to movie audiences for his roles as Wolverine in the X-Men franchise, among others, was not new to the movie musical by the time the film began filming in 2016. Following several high-profile roles onstage, Jackman cut his teeth in the world of onscreen singing in the 2012 adaptation of Les Miserables, for which he earned much acclaim including an Academy Award nomination. 

However, The Greatest Showman was the first Jackman-led musical vehicle that aimed to appeal to a wide family audience. With showstopping musical numbers and a story that highlights the importance of acceptance, the project demanded spectacle and a larger than life quality which was developed with Jackman at its heart.

The project was inspired after producer Laurence Mark saw Jackman's hosting job at the Academy Awards in 2009. "I was watching Hugh Jackman do what Hugh Jackman does better than anybody in the world, which is take a stage and thought 'Wow, this guy is the greatest showman on Earth,'" Mark explains in a behind-the-scenes feature for the film.

He quickly associated Jackman with another famous showman, circus-owner P. T. Barnum. With this seed of an idea, he and Bill Condon proposed the idea to Jackman for an original movie musical with Jackman taking on the role of Barnum. The actor was quickly swayed and so began a lengthy process of bringing this ambitious material to the screen.

Michael Gracey, a director of music videos and commercials, was one of the first people to officially board the film. A friend of Jackman's and a fellow Aussie, the film marked his debut as a feature filmmaker. Since the film would showcase original songs, the creatives recruited the songwriting team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul to pen the original numbers.

At the time they first became involved, the duo had yet to enter the world of movies and also hadn't yet risen to acclaim with their hit show Dear Evan Hanson. The new songs were to be a hybrid of pop and musical theater, with a decidedly contemporary sound despite its period setting. 

Though casting was yet to commence, Broadway alum Jeremy Jordan was eyed for the part of Philip Carlyle. In the early days of the project, he also recorded demos for some of Pasek & Paul's songs to allow the creative team a sense of how the songs might sound. To get the film greenlit, the team gathered in New York City for a read-through of the script and songs.

In an inconvenient turn of events, Jackman had skin cancer removed from his face the day before the event, and was instructed by his doctor that he refrain from singing. Jordan was then brought in to sing Jackman's songs. However, during the eleven o'clock number From Now On, something changed. As seen in a video that later went viral, Jackman took over the singing from Jordan, leading the whole company in a powerful rendition of the song. The movie was given the green light.

Within the next few months, Michelle Williams and Zac Efron joined the cast as Barnum's wife and Carlyle, respectively. Zendaya was cast as Carlyle's love interest Anne, which became one of her first roles on the big screen. Prior to The Greatest Showman's release, she had only appeared in one other film, albeit a big one: MCU's Spider-Man: Homecoming, hitting theaters the summer of that same year. With her impressive singing and dancing, this movie cemented her as a triple threat, allowing audiences to see her versatile talents.

Broadway's Keala Settle played a major part in the film, with her powerful vocals leading the charge on the anthem, This Is Me, a song that went on to win a Golden Globe. In addition to that song, several of the film's musical numbers have gone on to have a life of their own, with cover versions often showing up in concerts or albums by other artists. The original soundtrack became so popular that a "reimagined" version of the soundtrack hit shelves a year after the film's release, with newly recorded vocals from the likes of Kelly Clarkson, Sara Bareilles, Pentatonix, and more. 

The smashing opening number, The Greatest Show, has received lots of attention since its release, with Michael Ball and Alfie Boe including it as the opening track on their 2019 album Back Together. Jackman himself also took the stage in an elaborate performance of the song at the 2019 BRITS.

Like is often the case in biographical films, artistic license was taken to tell the story of Barnum's life, much to the dismay of some audiences. Other viewers took an issue with the staging of musical numbers, which some people felt were too reminiscent of music videos.

However, the box office results spoke for themselves, with the film grossing a worldwide total of $435 million, making the movie one of the highest grossing musical films in 2017. The stage adaptation, produced by Disney, is certain to bring in a great many fans of the movie as well, which features a slew of top-tier talent.

Now EGOT winners, Pasek and Paul have returned to the material for the stage version, writing five new songs which will sit alongside the original hits. Tim Federle, known for Better Nate Than Ever and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, is adapting the screenplay for the stage. The whole production will be directed and choreographed by Tony Award-winning Casey Nicholaw, whose credits include The Prom, Mean Girls, and Some Like It Hot.

While waiting for the musical to debut in Spring of 2026, there is no better time to revisit the original film that rocked the world during the 2017 holiday season. The movie is available to stream on Hulu.

Photo courtesy of Disney