Here we go: the Hugh Jackman-led, ‘La La Land‘-influenced musical about an 18th century showman and his attempts to break into the circus industry has finally scored its first trailer.
‘The Greatest Showman‘ follows real life showman and godfather of the modern circus P.T. Barnum (Jackman) as he gets his circus off the ground, with a little help from his fictional business partner Phillip (Zac Efron).
It was originally meant to be a biopic, but it’s now a full-blown musical. (Probably helped get around that whole ‘P.T. Barnum being a giant dick who got rich off abusing elephants, yet Hugh Jackman just being insanely likeable’ thing.) Director Michael Gracey kind of shot himself in the foot there. He told EW: “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. That ridiculous remark cost me seven years of my life.”
But obviously, we’re now living in a post ‘La La Land’ world. In fact, the Oscar-winning duo from that film, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, are handling the entire original score. And if after watching the trailer you’re wondering why tf the main track sounds like something someone would sing on ‘The Voice‘ and then cry about afterwards, here’s why:
“We were clear from the beginning that this wouldn’t feel like a period movie or a historical piece,” said Jackman. “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.”
Here ya go:
