The most ironic thing about Hugh Jackman is that while he’s probably best known as Wolverine — after all, he’s appeared in five movies as the Marvel Comics mutant — at his heart he’s the Broadway musical type. This was certainly apparent when Jackman hosted the 2009 Academy Awards, breaking into song at numerous opportunities. It’s surprising though that Jackman has starred in more film musicals then, but rumors that Jackman was set for the lead on a musical about the life of showman P.T. Barnum that have floated since 2009 were brought back to the forefront today with the announcement in Variety that Michael Gracey, who is set to direct the upcoming Disney Chinese Snow White film The Order of the Seven, has been chosen to direct Jackman as Barnum in The Greatest Showman on Earth.
There’s a lot that is odd about this story. First of all, this doesn’t seem to be an adaptation of the 1980 Broadway musical Barnum, which was also about the real-life titular showman who changed American entertainment with unforgettable sideshows and oddities. That musical was moderately successful, winning three Tony Awards and ran for just over two years. This seems to be an original production, based on the fact that it is written by TV’s Sex and the City scribe Jenny Bicks and Jackman is producing with John Palermo and Laurence Mark — all of whom worked on the 2009 Oscar telecast. Second, Gracey hasn’t directed a feature film yet, and a musical is a daunting choice for a rookie director, even one who has experience directing music videos. But since Jackman‘s producing, he must be good with the choice. Third, Jackman is a hell of a lot better looking than Barnum ever was (you can check out his mug with dwarf Commodore Nutt above).
The musical is also expected to focus on Barnum’s relationship with “The Swedish Nightingale” Jenny Lend, a world-famous singer who toured with Barnum, whose promotional tactics made her a hit before she even arrived in the country. Variety uses the word “infatuation” to describe Barnum’s feelings toward her, which I think it’is a bit strong unless they’re planning to do some revisionist history, since Barnum was happily married during the time he toured with Lind.
The film isn’t expected to shoot until after Jackman completes The Wolverine and perhaps even later if he chooses to take a role in the upcoming adaptation of Les Miserables, as has been rumored for some time.
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