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Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron Take Center Stage in New Photos for ‘The Greatest Showman’

Ladies and Gentlemen!  Boys and Girls!  Children of ALL ages!  You are about to get your first look at a production seven years in the making!  The Greatest Showman is a new original musical which will tell the story of P.T Barnum’s life.

Hugh Jackman will star as Barnum, the creator of the modern day circus along side Michelle Williams as Barnum’s wife Charity and Zac Efron as Barnum’s business partner, who falls in love with a trapeze artist played by Zendaya.  Michael Gracey will direct.

The film has been in the works for over 7 years.  Originally starting out as a P.T. Barnum biopic, the film was reworked into a musical after Gracey came up with the brilliant idea that, if a film is truly about someone who was the greatest showman, the film should display that prominently:

“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,’” the director says. “That ridiculous remark cost me seven years of my life.”

Hugh Jackman weighed in on the long road to making the film by saying:

“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.”

People definitely know the P.T. Barnum brand thanks to the real life production of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus which will be performing its final show this Sunday.

Entertainment Weekly provided us with our first look at this film which Jackman says takes place during, “a time in America where puritans kind of ruled and the circus was the equivalent of some dark-alley-strip-show kind of thing.”  Check out the first photos from EW in the gallery below!  Consider us intrigued!

Based on the first photos, the film looks stunning but, what about the original music?  Although the film will be set in the mid 1800’s, the music accompanying the film will sound quite modern, like current pop hits. La La Land’s Oscar-winning songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul are on board for the music so, it’s safe to say the film is in good hands!  Jackman weighed in on how this period-esque piece will have a very modern sound:

“We were clear from the beginning that this wouldn’t feel like a period movie or a historical piece.  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.”

So, what we’re hoping for is for the magic and wonder of the circus meets La La Land’s originality with a Moulin Rouge-like soundtrack.  We would totally watch that!

The Greatest Showman will be hitting theaters on Christmas Day!  What do you think?  Are you adding this film to your “must see” list? 

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