The end of 2017 saw two movies absolutely crush at the box office, especially compared to their relatively small budgets. Both The Greatest Showman and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle made a lot of money for their respective studios, but while a sequel for the latter has already been greenlighted, we haven't heard a peep about The Greatest Showman 2. Now, reports indicate that the studio isn't looking to tell more about the life of P.T. Barnum (the flick got through most of the juicy parts, anyway, and added plenty of flair, including an affair with Jenny Lind.) Instead, The Greatest Showman may be setting its sights on Broadway for the next chapter.
This week, there's been a lot of news coming out of the Cannes Film Festival, but one of the most intriguing bits of information should be this info about The Greatest Showman. Rumor has it a potential Broadway project was in the works when the songs for The Greatest Showman were being written and the movie was coming together, but the folks at Twentieth Century Fox weren't sure the gamble would pay off in box office returns. Currently The Greatest Showman's soundtrack is still a big hit in the U.K. and elsewhere, and per the Sun, a Broadway stint is being fast-tracked over something different like The Greatest Showman 2. The potential for this sort of deal doesn't come as a huge surprise, as The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey has previously said he thinks a musical would be a great idea.
While reviews were middling for the movie, it was certainly a crowd pleaser around the Christmas holidays, and went on to earn more than $431 million worldwide at the end of last year and during the early weeks of 2018. One of the main reasons the movie did so well was the music, which included original songs like "This is Me," "The Greatest Show," and "A Million Dreams," among others. A musical version of The Greatest Showman would already have that enticing music built in, and it wouldn't be a huge shock to hear that might be the next step for the movie to make, especially considering that the movie covers a lot of ground in regards to P.T. Barnum's life.
Lots of questions still remain. Would members of the cast come back for a Broadway run? (Especially Keala Settle, whose background is the theater anyway.) The reports indicate director Michael Gracey and even the likes of Hugh Jackman may be involved with a potential Broadway run, if it moves forward. If a musical is made, would it be super similar to the movie? Would new original songs be incorporated? We'll let you know as soon as any plans are finalized on those fronts.
For now, The Greatest Showman is already out on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital, and you can order a copy of the flick, here. In addition, the rollicking soundtrack is also around to brighten up your day.
