THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

[mamaleh]

That set will likely be buried in a foot and a half of snow tomorrow!

Ellen

[jo]

Everyone -- stay safe and warm


Jo

[jo]

www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-4312668/Hugh-Jackman-films-Greatest-Showman.html


Maybe ignore the writeup and just appreciate the photos on set on Monday















Before they took the break ( to allow Hugh to do his LOGAN promo campaign), the last scene was the fire incident that was part of the story, where he was supposed to have saved the character portrayed by Zac Efron. Maybe this is part of the aftermath?

Btw, isn't # 969 an address on Fifth Avenue and East 78th? The awning looks like many that dot the area? I wonder - are they filming there?


EDIT: It seems this is the address of the NYU Institute of Fine Arts.

Jo

[mamaleh]

Well, if it's not the fire scene, then Barnum has taken a second job as a chimney sweep.

Seriously, he looks so good in slightly longer hair, doesn't he?

Ellen

[jo]

[hughmanity]

Mar 14, 2017 11:12:19 GMT -5 mamaleh said:

Well, if it's not the fire scene, then Barnum has taken a second job as a chimney sweep.

Seriously, he looks so good in slightly longer hair, doesn't he?

Ellen

YES HE DOES!

[jo]

Filming must be fast and furious now

Posted on Facebook account of Visual Effects crew for GREATEST SHOWMAN --

Brandon Endy
March 11 at 12:22am · New York, NY, United States ·
Filming at 11pm on a Friday night and things have broken down so much that we now have 3 units filming at the same time in the same space, separated by flags

Also posted by Brandon Endy --

Brandon Endy shared Collider.com's video.
March 7 at 2:25pm ·
This is not the same guy I'm working with, he can go from singing and dancing to this? #bestactoroscar

Collider.com added a new video: Hugh Jackman ADR.
March 7 at 1:49pm ·
Hugh Jackman is a real one, guys. This is INSANE 😱 😱

A much earlier post --

Brandon Endy
December 1, 2016 ·
Standing on a beach with Hugh Jackman singing is an awesome way to end the work week, easily one of the coolest dudes in the biz

[jo]

Is there a resurgence in movie musicals?

www.voanews.com/a/la-la-land-beauty-beast-ride-resurgence-musicals/3768425.html


Excerpts --

Actor Hugh Jackman signs autographs after a press conference for the movie "Logan" in Beijing, March 1, 2017. He'll star late this year as P.T. Barnum in "The Greatest Showman," with music by "La La Land" lyricists Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

A rebirth?

Is the musical undergoing a renaissance, or at least a major moment? Or is it all just a happy coincidence? Certainly, it's been a great time for musicals on Broadway, where Miranda's Hamilton has been breaking all kinds of records since it opened in July 2015. And on TV, there's been the trend of live musicals like Grease, Peter Pan and Hairspray.

"I don't think it's a coincidence," said Mandy Moore, the choreographer of La La Land, who's also worked extensively in television. "I think it went away for a while, that style of storytelling, and that style of music, and it's like anything — bell bottoms were cool, and then they were not cool, and then they were cool again. People throw it away for a while and then come back to it and remember, 'Oh, that was really cool, and why don't we reinvent it?' "

To Menken, who composed the music for Beauty and the Beast and many other musicals, the moment for musicals has been happening "for quite a while."
"Look at the box office," he said in a recent interview, listing Hamilton and a slew of other Broadway shows, by him and others. "It's just an explosion of musicals."
.

Platt and Moore, of La La Land, also point to the younger creative voices injecting life into musicals in various forms; Chazelle is 32, and Miranda is 37.


Contemporary spin

"It's part of the evolution of the art," said Platt. "You have new young voices who grew up seeing the world in a certain way, and hearing the world in a certain way. And what's really interesting is ... they're all steeped in the history of the genre. Lin-Manuel and Benj and Justin can tell you every piece of musical theater history, the way that Damien can tell you the history of great American and French New Wave musical cinema. And so they're taking from the past, drawing on what they've learned and studied, but putting it through the lens and the filter of their very contemporary world."

Beauty director Bill Condon credits animated musical films with getting audiences comfortable with the simple act of a character breaking into song.

"And then if you let it happen, it turns out that the audience actually loves that," Condon said. "There's a wider audience for it, for just the joy of breaking out into song. It feels like the audience has caught up again."

They may have caught up, but that doesn't mean it's going to be easy for future screen musicals to capture the La La Land magic, said Dergarabedian of comScore.

"It's not going to happen every year," he said. "That was lightning in a bottle."

But have movie musicals reached the widest audience possible?

It's probably a slice of the much younger demos (especially the kids who liked animated musicals), the musical theatre fans, maybe the female moviesgoers who are strong fans of movie musicals -- but the adult male demos are still quite resistant to movie musicals, saying it is not cool to want to watch them.

Will fans of the highly successful LOGAN come and check out a singing and dancing Wolverine ?


Jo

[jo]

Remember this --

http://instagram.com/p/BOFCbzAD6jv

It looks like he also sent a personal message --


www.imgrum.org/media/1457170133842848017_3069948051


Posted on D'angelo's page -- plese scroll down to the right.

gramosphere.com/user/dangelos_italian_sausage_/2908241196/

[qwerty]

Is this true?

[jo]

Was the tweeter referring to the song title...or simply using an expletive?

Hugh debuted one of the songs from THE GREATEST SHOWMAN in his Broadway to Oz concert series.

If you go back to that thread you can find links to an uploaded video of the concert ( 2 parts, uploaded by Jason Hill) -- that further confirms what has been previously periscoped and uploaded as the song THIS IS ME. The context of this song is in relation to the so-called freaks in the circus. I think there is a blurry clip of the entire song which is likely in the thread. But a clearer version has also been uploaded except it does not include the first part -- it is the softly-sung portion, which eventually becomes a rousing rendition.

However, this song is NOT intended for P. T. Barnum and Hugh is unlikely to sing it in the movie. It looks like that in the film version, it is Broadway actress Keala Settle ( who takes the role of The Bearded Lady) who will likely do the solo or lead the singing for that number. We don't know whether Hugh might join later in the singing.

In the meantime, here is the partially-uploaded song from the concert. Also, the staging is for purposes of the concert... and it is likely that the number will be staged/presented in the movie in a completely different way.

[jo]

The second half of December is getting awfully crowded for new movie releases


Per BoxOfficeMojo --

www.boxofficemojo.com/schedule/?view=bydate&release=all&date=2017-12-01&showweeks=5&p=.htm

Friday 15
NEW IN THEATERS/DISTRIBUTOR/RELEASE

Ferdinand/Animation/ Fox/ Wide


Star Wars: The Last Jedi/Sci-Fi Fantasy/ Buena Vista/Wide



Friday 22
NEW IN THEATERS/DISTRIBUTOR/RELEASE

Bastards (2017)/Comedy/ Warner Bros./ Wide

Downsizing/Comedy&Drama/ Paramount/ Wide


Jumanji (2017)/Sci-Fi Action/ Sony&Columbia/ Wide


Pitch Perfect 3/Comedy/Universal/Wide



The Six Billion Dollar Man/Action/ Weinstein&Dimension/Wide



Untitled PG-13 Comedy/Comedy/ Warner Bros./ Wide



Wednesday 27

NEW IN THEATERS
DISTRIBUTOR
RELEASE


The Greatest Showman on Earth (on Mon.)/Musical/Fox/ Wide

The FOX Marketing Department and Hugh Jackman/Zac Efron/Michelle Williams have their work cut out for them to promote the movie very aggressively!


From the BoxOfficeMojo link, you can check out the specific link for each movie -- which indicates the casts for the movies concerned. Formidable competition!


At least, there is no one competing with GREATEST SHOWMAN for Christmas week yet!


Jo

[jo]

More photos off the set of THE GREATEST SHOWMAN taken on Thursday ( March 16) --

www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-4323192/Hugh-Jackman-spotted-NYC-set-Greatest-Showman.html

[njr]

Mar 16, 2017 10:24:52 GMT -5 jo said:

Was the tweeter referring to the song title...or simply using an expletive?

The poster should have had a question mark after it, as I believe what they were saying is a shortened version of "WTF?"

Nancy

[jo]

We know that the song that was introduced in BROADWAY TO OZ was THIS IS ME

Is the original poster bothered ( if that is an expletive) by the fact that a song from a forthcoming movie was debuted way ahead of the movie release

Doesn't that happen often ?

At the time the song was introduced to the public though, Hugh has not secured the full greenlight. That came after the February reading in 2016 for Fox execs!


Jo

[mamaleh]

Mar 17, 2017 6:21:57 GMT -5 jo said:

More photos off the set of THE GREATEST SHOWMAN taken on Thursday ( March 16) --

www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-4323192/Hugh-Jackman-spotted-NYC-set-Greatest-Showman.html

Unusual to catch a photo of. Hugh with a sour look on his face (third photo). Maybe he just saw that SKULL ISLAND overtook LOGAN's number one spot (kidding). .

There's still plenty of messy snow to step around in the NYC area. I wonder if it's hampering the shoot in any way. And we're supposed to get more tomorrow. Ugh.

Ellen

[jo]

[jo]

Early morning call for filming --

Zac Efron Swiss 
🇨🇭
‏ @zacefron_Swiss 15m
15 minutes ago


On #TheGreatestShowman set this morning call time 5am ... much fun @zacefron @realhughjackman

[hughmanity]

Yikes...that's a lot of competition....and some of those movies have built-in followings. You're right, Jo, Fox will have to be very aggressive in marketing.  What happened to Christmas day opening?   That always seems to mark films as more of an "event".  Do you think it's because Christmas falls on a Monday, too close to the previous weekend's openings?

Mar 16, 2017 20:52:26 GMT -5 jo said:

The second half of December is getting awfully crowded for new movie releases


Per BoxOfficeMojo --

www.boxofficemojo.com/schedule/?view=bydate&release=all&date=2017-12-01&showweeks=5&p=.htm

Friday 15
NEW IN THEATERS/DISTRIBUTOR/RELEASE

Ferdinand/Animation/ Fox/ Wide


Star Wars: The Last Jedi/Sci-Fi Fantasy/ Buena Vista/Wide



Friday 22
NEW IN THEATERS/DISTRIBUTOR/RELEASE

Bastards (2017)/Comedy/ Warner Bros./ Wide

Downsizing/Comedy&Drama/ Paramount/ Wide


Jumanji (2017)/Sci-Fi Action/ Sony&Columbia/ Wide


Pitch Perfect 3/Comedy/Universal/Wide



The Six Billion Dollar Man/Action/ Weinstein&Dimension/Wide



Untitled PG-13 Comedy/Comedy/ Warner Bros./ Wide



Wednesday 27

NEW IN THEATERS
DISTRIBUTOR
RELEASE


The Greatest Showman on Earth (on Mon.)/Musical/Fox/ Wide

The FOX Marketing Department and Hugh Jackman/Zac Efron/Michelle Williams have their work cut out for them to promote the movie very aggressively!


From the BoxOfficeMojo link, you can check out the specific link for each movie -- which indicates the casts for the movies concerned. Formidable competition!


At least, there is no one competing with GREATEST SHOWMAN for Christmas week yet!


Jo

[jo]

Hey, Fox Marketing -- as it would be the right season, why not have our singing stars ( Hugh/Zac/Michelle/Zendaya) do something in the spirit of the season while doing the promo tour?! I know the weather could be bitterly cold -- but something like having them sing at The Rock Center for the TODAY show?? Or even during the talk show appearances?

Fox Marketing did an impressive job promoting an R-rated LOGAN ( albeit it is also the farewell Jackman portrayal which gave it further cachet) worldwide! THE GREATEST SHOWMAN will likely be a PG-rated family-friendly movie which is also a musical -- that could also appeal to a worldwide audience which celebrates Christmas with music and feelings of joy!


Hopefully, any strong marketing push will be perfectly complemented by excellent ratings for this movie musical!

[jo]

Another movie, from the Harvey Weinstein company has joined the slate for a December 22 limited release basis, with Benedict Cumberbatch starring in THE CURRENT WAR --

deadline.com/2017/03/mary-magdalene-release-date-current-war-wind-river-premieres-1202046002/

Meanwhile, the company today also set its Benedict Cumberbatch-Michael Shannon pic The Current War for December 22...The Alfonso Gomez‐Rejon-directed Current War depicts the battle between Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch) and George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon) over the supply of electricity in the late 1880s. Alfonso Gomez‐Rejon directs and Katherine Waterston, Nicholas Hoult, Tom Holland, Matthew Macfayden and Tuppence Middleton co-star. The pic is going with a limited release against a full slate — Warner Bros’ Bastards, Sony’s Jumanji, Paramount’s Downsizing, Universal’s Pitch Perfect 3 and TWC/Dimension’s The Six Billion Dollar Man. It goes wider on January 19.

Not a box office threat in December because it is slated for a limited release basis but it is obviously being aimed as Oscar bait by Harvey Weinstein ( arghhh!!!).

[jo]

Also, so far --

*Bastards with Owen Wilson et al is a comedy road trip
*Downsizing with Matt Damon et al is a Lilliputian tale ( shrinking someone to 4 inches tall)
*Jumanji with Dwayne Johnson and Nick Jonas - an adventure sequel to the Robin Williams movie
*Pitch Perfect with Anna Kendrick -- the "third" in a comedy trilogy, with music.
*Six Billion Dollar Man with Mark Wahlberg, for release by Weinstein Company -- a long-gestating project that is supposed to be a remake of the TV series Six Million Dollar Man. The remake is probably adjusted for hyper-inflation ... filming is not yet confirmed ( still under development, per IMDB)- as of end-2016, it was still at the script development stage; maybe replaced by A Current War which is another Weinstein Company release?

[mamaleh]

And you can bet that Mr. Weinstein will give A CURRENT WAR all the p.r. juice it needs to secure an Oscar nomination.

Ellen

[jo]

Rebecca Ferguson, the beauty in the group, talks about Hugh and her experience meeting and working with him.

www.news.com.au/entertainment/life-star-rebecca-ferguson-faces-terror-in-space-with-ryan-reynolds-and-the-circus-with-hugh-jackman/news-story/6db20bff880601dfc0a57dc53fa37227


Excerpts --

Three years ago, on the set of Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation, Ferguson recalls Tom Cruise doing everything possible to ensure her butt-kicking double agent Ilsa made “a wonderful entrance”.
What Cruise and Co. came up with didn’t just make Ilsa a worthy counterpart to Ethan Hunt, it became Ferguson’s entry into the big league.

Her phone has rung hot ever since, thrusting her into the thick of the mystery of The Girl On the Train alongside Emily Blunt, playing Hugh Grant’s mistress in the crowd-pleasing Florence Foster Jenkins and (later this year) doing Nordic noir with Michael Fassbender in The Snowman.

The only downside for this 33-year-old mother of one has been deciding which great offer to take.
“It’s a puzzle,” says Ferguson, who now splits her time between London and her fishing village home in Sweden. “You can sit with a great script and think, how do we puzzle that into the schedule? Then there are things I’d love to do, but it’s offered to other great actors. Then there’s family life ... I mean, for anyone who travels and has family, how do you make it work?”



Every now and then, however, the choice is clear.

Like when Hugh Jackman asked her to sing and dance alongside him in The Greatest Showman.

“That was a given,” Ferguson laughs. “Even my son said, ‘What do you mean, Wolverine? Go! Are you kidding?’ ”
Ferguson plays 19th century Swedish opera sensation Jenny Lind to Jackman’s circus ringleader P.T. Barnum in the new musical, but she’s quick to point out she won’t be heard singing soprano when the movie opens on Boxing Day.

Rather, the cast will be performing songs by La La Land Oscar winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.



“I would not be doing it if it was opera!” she says with a laugh. “Well that’s not true, I would have mimicked as best as I could. But they’ve done a modernised version — every song is new. I’m not singing the way that Jenny Lind did back in the day.”


Of course, Hugh Jackman could probably sing soprano, alto, baritone ... Ferguson was incredibly nervous about stepping on set with the Aussie who can do it all.

“Then we had the rehearsal day and in he comes on a bike, in grey jogging suit, and runs up and gives me a hug and thanks ME for being in his film. He was just incredible from day one.”

Btw, she is in a new movie with former Hugh co-stars : Ryan Reynolds and Jake Gyllenhaal, LIFE.

[jo]

Again, the great debate

HJ's new avatar --




Much longer hair -- so, is he wearing his real hair in the set photos from GREATEST SHOWMAN?