Hugh Jackman-Led Musical Movie THE GREATEST SHOWMAN ON EARTH Postpones Release Date

He might be the greatest showman on earth, but he'll have to wait a little longer to be resurrected.

BroadwayWorld has learned that FOX has made multiple key changes to its film release schedule this fall. Most notably for Broadway fans, the studio has announced that the musical movie THE GREATEST SHOWMAN ON EARTH will get a Christmas Day 2017 release, rather than 2016. Starring Hugh Jackman, this P.T. Barnum biopic is led by Michael Gracey in his directorial debut.

In all likelihood, the schedule change was made to coincide with the release of the next Jackman-led WOLVERINE film, which is set for a March 3, 2017 release date. Both films are currently in pre-production.

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN ON EARTH has 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 songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul have written the score, with musical contributions by Brian Lapin, Bonnie McKee and Jake Shears.

Buzz regarding further casting for the film has been floating around since 2009. At that time, rumors circulated that Anne Hathaway might play real-life opera diva Jenny Lind, though FOX has not confirmed as much.

Of course, the LIFE STORY of P.T. Barnum has been presented in musical form before, with Jim Dale and Glenn Close starring in the Cy Coleman/Michael Stewart Broadway musical BARNUM in the early 1980s. It was later presented on video via the West End mounting with Michael Crawford in the title role. P.T. Barnum's story has made its way to celluloid over the decades, as well, with the title of this new film project alluding most notably to 1952's Oscar-winning circus-set THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH.

Source: THR