Hugh Jackman to Play PT Barnum

Posted by Josh Radde (josh@filmschoolrejects.com) on August 4, 2009

Hugh Jackman’s singin’ and dancin’ at the Oscars this year has seemed to pay off. According to Variety, Jackman has agreed to star in The Greatest Showman on Earth, a new musical about the life and rise to stardom of P.T. Barnum. The musical has been written by Jenny Bicks, who got her feet wet writing for “Sex and the City” and will be produced by the eclectic Laurence Mark (Dreamgirls, Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion, and I, Robot), Jackman and his (producing) partner John Palermo.

That combination of Jackman, Dreamgirls, “Sex and the City,” and contemporary musicals means one thing: I’ll likely be dragged to see this. And if The Greatest Showman features Jackman jumping around exposing his bare ass, as he did in Wolverine, it’s likely that it will take my girlfriend a while to wipe the drool of her chin again.

The film will center around how Barnum was able to trick the paying public into buying his three-ring circus idea. It will also tell the story of how he fell in love with Jenny Lind, the Swedish Nightingale (allegedly being written specifically for Anne Hathaway). I assume James Anthony Bailey will be a part of the plot as well, considering that before they joined forces, the two were fierce competitors.

Brit artist Mika is in talks to write contemporary music and lyrics for the film. This is only the first of several musicals Jackman wants to produce (he also wants to remake Rodgers and Hammersteins’ Carousel). It is unknown at this time who will direct as well as when production is slated to begin.

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