If you’re going to make a musical titled The Greatest Showman, you need to make sure you cast someone in your main role who can live up to that lofty billing. Someone that can truly do it all–sing, act, and dance. So who better to play the man who created show business itself, P.T. Barnum, than the modern day epitome of showmanship:Â Hugh Jackman?
In the first trailer for the film, which “tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation,” Jackman stars as the man synonymous with the circus itself. But far from the image of the man known for saying, “A sucker is born every minute,” this Barnum is full of joy, love, and inspiration to entertain.
To be able to go from the heavy, dramatic, action-packed Logan to the lighthearted, festive tone of this musical might be proof enough that Jackman really is our greatest showman.
The movie, directed by relative newcomer Michael Gracey (Naruto), also stars Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Zendaya, and Rebecca Ferguson, and features songs from Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, fresh off of their Oscar-winning work on “City of Stars” in La La Land.
So while we don’t know how much singing or dancing the real P.T. Barnum might have done in life, we do know they got one of our best showmen to play a version of him that does.
The Greatest Showman comes to theaters this Christmas, on December 25th.
Do you think Hugh Jackman is the greatest showman working in Hollywood today? Or is someone else worthy of that title? We’d love if you’d perform with your thoughts in our comments below.
Images: 20th Century Fox
