Ladies and gentlemen, this is the moment you’ve been waiting for: “The Greatest Showman” takes the stage.
Disney Theatricals is developing a musical stage adaptation of the hit 2017 film starring Hugh Jackman. The company announced the project Friday at D23 Expo, the company’s biennial fan convention in Anaheim. The cast, creative team and location for the debut production will be announced at a later date.
“The Greatest Showman” is loosely based on the entrepreneurial endeavors of P.T. Barnum, who founded the Barnum & Bailey Circus. The cast of the film, directed by Michael Gracey, also includes Zendaya and Zac Efron. performing a duet focused on the aerial, nothing less – along with Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Keala Settle.
Its chart-topping soundtrack featured 11 infectious original songs written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, with The anthem “This Is Me” The duo received an Oscar nomination. The following year, a second album was released, which included new covers of Kelly Clarkson, Pink, Panic! At the Disco and Missy Elliott, among others.
Zac Efron and Zendaya in “The Greatest Showman.”
(Niko Tavernise / 20th Century Fox)
Although the film received mixed reviews, it ran for 219 days in theaters and grossed a worldwide total of $435 million, making it one of the highest-grossing live-action musical films of all time. Jackman even performed the songs during his 2019 world concert tour.
The stage project will be the first Result of the Disney-Fox merger It was completed in 2019. It will also be one of Disney's few stage adaptations of a live-action title (“Mary Poppins,” “Newsies”); most of its stage musicals have been based on animated films (“Tarzan,” “The Little Mermaid”).
“The Greatest Showman” joins a slate of other stage musicals in development at Disney Theatricals, including adaptations of “Coco” and “Tangled.” “Aladdin” and “The Lion King” are currently playing on Broadway, and “Frozen” is touring the U.S. and playing in the West End. A 30th-anniversary production of “Beauty and the Beast” will kick off a North American tour next year, and a new staging of “Hercules” is set to debut in London in 2025.
