THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

[jo]

[mamaleh]

At the end of tonight's "Entertainment Tonight" they previewed tomorrow's show with a bit of the trailer for GREATEST SHOWMAN." Can't wait to see it.

Ellen

[jo]

Thanks for the tip, Ellen


So The Little Birdie Friend is 100% right -- it is going to bow on a Wednesday- but here in Manila ...( Tuesday PM over there?)!



If I am lucky, the Manila replay of ET is going to be in half-an-hour's time.

(EDIT: I think I may be a day too early replay-wise -- it would probably be the replay late tonight or tomorrow am.)



Given what the film project has undergone in the last 7/8 years -- this is almost surreal


Jo

[qwerty]

Jun 26, 2017 21:56:12 GMT -5 jo said:

Thanks for the tip, Ellen


So The Little Birdie Friend is 100% right -- it is going to bow on a Wednesday- but here in Manila ...( Tuesday PM over there?)!



If I am lucky, the Manila replay of ET is going to be in half-an-hour's time.

(EDIT: I think I may be a day too early replay-wise -- it would probably be the replay late tonight or tomorrow am.)



Given what the film project has undergone in the last 7/8 years -- this is almost surreal


Jo

I'm sure the trailer might come out tomorrow morning (Manila time)

[jo]

Not sure if the time refers to India TV -- but at least we get the glimpse of the trailer!

"Showtime!"

[jo]

Jun 27, 2017 6:53:58 GMT -5 qwerty said:

Jun 26, 2017 21:56:12 GMT -5 jo said:

Thanks for the tip, Ellen


So The Little Birdie Friend is 100% right -- it is going to bow on a Wednesday- but here in Manila ...( Tuesday PM over there?)!



If I am lucky, the Manila replay of ET is going to be in half-an-hour's time.

(EDIT: I think I may be a day too early replay-wise -- it would probably be the replay late tonight or tomorrow am.)



Given what the film project has undergone in the last 7/8 years -- this is almost surreal


Jo

I'm sure the trailer might come out tomorrow morning (Manila time)

I think what we will get to see tomorrow am in Manila will be the teaser from ET ( such as what was shown on the post before this).

The trailer will not come out in Manila on ET till a day later ( so maybe Thursday AM Manila time)


But who cares -- what is another 24 hours


The project was announced in August 2009 ( as THE GREATEST SHOWMAN ON EARTH ), if I recall right )


Jo

[qwerty]

Jun 27, 2017 7:02:58 GMT -5 jo said:

Jun 27, 2017 6:53:58 GMT -5 qwerty said:

I'm sure the trailer might come out tomorrow morning (Manila time)

I think what we will get to see tomorrow am in Manila will be the teaser from ET ( such as what was shown on the post before this).

The trailer will not come out in Manila on ET till a day later ( so maybe Thursday AM Manila time)


But who cares -- what is another 24 hours


The project was announced in August 2009 ( as THE GREATEST SHOWMAN ON EARTH ), if I recall right )


Jo

Thank you for the info I'm very excited. I'm happy they are promoting the film as early as now considering Star Wars will be the competition of this film. Nevertheless, I can't wait to see all these teasers and trailers

[jo]

This is the lay of the competition - some are awards bait, others are family fare for the holiday. GREATEST SHOWMAN, hopefully, will fall into both categories!


Per Box Office Mojo --

Friday -Dec 15
NEW IN THEATERS/DISTRIBUTOR/RELEASE
Ferdinand
Animation
Fox
Wide


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

****************************

Wednesday- Dec 13

Miss Kiet's Children
Documentary
Icarus Films

****************************

Friday - Dec 22

Bastards (2017)
Comedy
Warner Bros.
Wide


Downsizing with Matt Damon
Comedy / Drama
Paramount
Wide


Pitch Perfect 3
Comedy
Universal
Wide


The Six Billion Dollar Man* ( already pushed back to 2018)
Action
Weinstein / Dimension
Wide


The Current War
Drama
Weinstein Company


Untitled Steven Spielberg ( now called The Papers/Streep&Hanks)
Drama
Fox

****************************

Wednesday - Dec 20

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle ( Dwayne Johnson)
Action
Sony / Columbia
Wide

****************************

Wednesday - Dec 27

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

Untitled Paul Thomas Anderson Project (2017) (on Mon.) - Phantom Thread - DDLewis)
Drama
Focus Features

Some are still filming, such as 2 obvious awards baits ( The Papers and Phantom Thread).

The Greatest Showman is the only movie musical...but will probably compete with Star wars ( although that would be released 10 days earlier), Jumanji ( a sequel to the Robin Williams movie) for family entertainment. Not sure if The Current War ( the drama involving inventors Edison & Westinghouse, with Benedict Cumerbatch and Tom Holland ... and Downsizing (which I call a Lilliputian tale) with Matt Damon will also be competition for family fare.

FOX marketing will have to be very strong in providing promotional support for the movie. The group was impressive in the promotion and publicity program for LOGAN, so I am optimistic... So far, we know that a music video featuring young pop artists from all over the world ( 18-19 countries) has been filmed and will likely be released to draw in the teen and young adult demos. We don't know if the soundtrack will be released before the release of the movie, but that can happen ( just like Les Miserables which released their soundtrack close to film opening). We don't know the number of premieres in major cities around the world it will launch for SHOWMAN and where the world premiere will be held ( I am hoping it will be NYC -- this is an Americana story and will be a collaborative effort of Hollywood and Broadway talent). But the music support will be an advantage over the non-musical movies -- the music video and the soundtrack will serve as calling cards for the movie -- in addition to the trailers and TV spots! Again, in the case of LOGAN, we were bombarded with so much publicity material towards the film release that I didn't know anymore what to prioritize posting

Re the media junket -- I am looking forward to that phase! There are certain cities in the world which love movie musicals -- UK/Japan/South Korea/recently, China/ Brazil/Mexico, some European cities like France/Germany/Italy - check out the Box Office Mojo info on BEAUTY AND THE BEAST/LA LA LAND/ and even LES MISERABLES. I am pretty sure Hugh will be at the forefront of the publicity tour. I wonder who will join him in the effort. Remember how FOX sent several teams for the launch of DAYS OF FUTURE PAST ?


But for all of these, the critical quality of the movies ( especially those expected to draw in huge audiences) may also affect the box office. Hope GREATEST SHOWMAN hits its critical and commercial goals!


Jo

[jo]

One other interesting development that may happen before the release of GREATEST SHOWMAN --

Nominations will be announced Dec. 11 for the Jan. 7 ceremony, with submissions due Oct. 31.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association on Wednesday revealed the timetable for the 2018 Golden Globes.
Nominations will be announced at 5 a.m. PT/8 a.m. ET on Monday, Dec. 11, with the deadline for submissions set for Tuesday, Oct. 31.

As previously announced, the 75th annual Golden Globe Awards are set for Jan. 7, 2018.

The nominations for the GOLDEN GLOBES come in sometime in December ( because their awards ceremonies happen in the early part of the new year) -- screeners are sent ahead of release date if the movie will be released close to December 31. GREATEST SHOWMAN has a very good chance of landing nominations as the field is open for separate DRAMA and MUSICALS/COMEDY categories. I am not spooking their chances but many have already speculated that the movie will have excellent chances at the Golden Globes. So, that kind of favorable publicity ( of nominations) and any win possibilities ( which will coincide with most of the worldwide release dates) will only be good for enhancing box office appeal!

During the LOGAN media junket in NYC, someone interviewed Hugh and in the process showed some photos at where they were filming SHOWMAN. That was the former Chairman of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (which sponsors the Golden Globes) Filipino-American entertainment journalist Ruben Nepales (who has run a quite few interviews with Hugh in the past, including a set visit for Les Miserables). So, his LOGAN interview this time coincided with a set visit at THE GREATEST SHOWMAN studio filming

Jo

[hughmanity]

Such excitement I came home to today.  Jo, were you up all night??!!  

[jo]

Pasek and Paul shares how they approached the songwriting task -- inspired by a Mutant

www.cinemablend.com/news/1675709/how-wolverine-bizarrely-influenced-the-greatest-showmans-songs

How Wolverine Bizarrely Influenced The Greatest Showman’s Songs

By Gregory Wakeman



It is a well known fact that Hugh Jackman can belt out a tune as well as anyone else in Hollywood. The last time audiences got to hear the Australian in song on the big-screen was actually all the way back in 2012 when he played Jean Valjean in Les Miserables. Thankfully Hugh Jackman is going to right that wrong before the end of the year, as we'll get to hear and see him in action as P.T. Barnum in The Greatest Showman. But it turns out that Hugh Jackman's iconic non-singing performances as Wolverine helped to inform some of the musical numbers in The Greatest Showman.

That's because when composers Justin Paul and Benj Pasek were writing songs for The Greatest Showman they repeatedly reminded themselves that Wolverine was going to be singing them. Especially since they wanted some of the superhero's attributes in the character of P.T. Barnum. Justin Paul previously revealed their process writing songs for The Greatest Showman, recalling,

We wrote every song for Hugh, knowing it was going to be Hugh. That was actually really helpful because we were able to sort of... it gives you an extra special litmus test while writing. Because as you write something, you get to ask, 'How would that sound coming out of [Hugh's mouth]?' A lot of it was like, 'OK, we're writing songs for Wolverine to sing. So how can we make it like as cool and muscular as he is? And give Barnum some of that swagger that I know Michael [Gracey] wanted him to have.' We were able to write the songs with that little editing filter on it, which was, 'Remember Hugh's singing this. So how can we make it best for him.'

CinemaBlend had the chance to sit down and talk with Justin Paul and Benj Pasek when we visited the set of The Greatest Showman earlier this year in Brooklyn, New York. The duo were clearly in high spirits, as this was shortly after they had picked up the 2017 Academy Award for Best Original Song for La La Land's "City Of Stars." But while the duo are currently the talk of Tinseltown, especially following on from the huge success of their Broadway smash-hit and Tony award winner Dear Evan Hansen, they've actually been hard at work on The Greatest Showman for several years now.

During our wide-ranging discussion the pair explained that they actually signed up to work on The Greatest Showman rather fortuitously. Pasek and Paul were actually just at 20th Century Fox's Los Angeles base for a general meeting when they were informed that a producer down the hall was working on a musical. This unnamed producer was luckily in their office at the time, and following a brief chat with that individual, Pasek and Paul were invited to meet with The Greatest Showman's director Michael Gracey.

After wowing each of these individuals with their musical talents Pasek and Paul were quickly signed up for The Greatest Showman. And the trailer for the film teases just how compelling and rousing their musical efforts will be. If you've not seen the trailer for The Greatest Showman yet then you can watch it below.

TRAILER


Superb stuff. You'll get to see the full range of numbers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul have written and composed for The Greatest Showman when it's released on December 25.

When can we hear Hugh sing solo before the movie opens?

[jo]

www.cinemablend.com/news/1675680/why-hugh-jackman-wanted-to-play-pt-barnum-in-the-greatest-showman

Why Hugh Jackman Wanted To Play P.T. Barnum In The Greatest Showman

By Gregory Wakeman



As an actor, Hugh Jackman has pretty much done it all. He's dabbled in musicals (Les Miserables), action (Swordfish), comedy (Eddie The Eagle), drama (Prisoners, The Prestige), romance (Kate & Leopold, The Fountain), and provided arguably the most iconic superhero performances yet as Wolverine. So it's little surprise then that the Australian actor was so intent on portraying P.T. Barnum in The Greatest Showman. Especially because, as Hugh Jackman himself insisted, the founder of the Barnum & Bailey Circus basically invented show business.

This was exactly what Hugh Jackman told Michael Gracey when the actor was trying to get his fellow countryman on-board The Greatest Showman as its director. When recalling how he eventually signed up to oversee The Greatest Showman, Michael Gracey explained,

Hugh has been on since the beginning. Hugh originally called me and said, 'The script's not right. But I love the idea of playing P.T. Barnum, because it is the birth of show business.' And I was like, 'Yeah. OK. That sounds amazing.'

Michael Gracey made this admission to CinemaBlend when we visited the set of The Greatest Showman in Brooklyn, New York, earlier this year. After showing us a handful of the musical numbers from The Greatest Showman, each of which looked utterly spectacular, Michael Gracey then told us about how he came to be involved in the project. But rather than just signing up for the film and then delivering exactly what was put in front of him, Gracey actually had a huge hand in severely altering the trajectory of The Greatest Showman.


That's because when Hugh Jackman originally handed Michael Gracey the script for The Greatest Showman it wasn't actually a musical. After taking a look through the script, Gracey told Jackman that in order for him to unleash his full potential as the character of P.T. Barnum, the film needed to be a musical so that it could "really play to [his] strengths." Hugh Jackman was so in favor of Gracey's declaration that he immediately signed him up as The Greatest Showman's director. Gracey recalled,

So I read the script, and I kept going back to it and saying, 'Look, if you're going to put The Greatest Showman above your head on the poster, then you should really play to your strengths.' And I grew up watching him in Australia doing musicals. So I said, 'It should really be a musical.' And that really naïve remark cost me seven years of my life.

You can take a look at Hugh Jackman as P.T. Barnum in The Greatest Showman by watching the trailer for the musical below.

TRAILER

You'll finally get to see The Greatest Showman in all of its glory later this year on Christmas Day, as that's exactly when the Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, and Zendaya-led outing will hit screens.

Some of us had known about the project since it was first announced in 2009, then called THE GREATEST SHOWMAN ON EARTH.

www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/57699-hugh-jackman-is-the-greatest-showman-on-earth

Hugh Jackman is The Greatest Showman on Earth
By CS ON August 4, 2009

Read more at www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/57699-hugh-jackman-is-the-greatest-showman-on-earth#FFWR4tHw9P05RTSb.99
Variety reports that 20th Century Fox has attached Hugh Jackman to play American showman P.T. Barnum in The Greatest Showman on Earth, an original contemporary musical to be written by Jenny Bicks (Sex and the City).
The film will be produced by Laurence Mark (Dreamgirls), Jackman and his Seed partner John Palermo.

Jackman will play the showman with a penchant for hoaxing a gullible public as he creates the three-ring circus that made him famous. The musical also focuses on his infatuation with singer Jenny Lind — the so-called Swedish Nightingale.

The film will have a contemporary musical score, and the studio is in talks with British singer-songwriter Mika to write music and lyrics.

The Lind role is being scripted for Anne Hathaway, who teamed with Jackman in his opening Oscars number.

The indication as early as then was that it was meant to be a musical ( with music written by a European pop artist named MIKA, which was an early indication that they wanted a musical score with a contemporary beat as early as then)...but based on the above account, maybe the plan had not materialized when Michael Gracey came on board. Maybe it was he who pursued the path towards musicalizing a major part of the script then available ( Jenny Bicks?)?


Jo

[jo]

[jo]

Interesting that the first trailer did not share anything more than just a fleeting look at the relationship between P.T. and Charity Barnum. But it was obvious that their friendship since childhood ( which obviously turned into a romantic relationship) will lead to a sharing of love, family, and P.T.'s own road to success. It is amusing that one of Hollywood's most acknowleged actresses for drama did not speak one word in the trailer. But Michelle Williams had a few enthralling moments which registered strongly despite the lack of spoken dialog -- her bemused look while P.T. was amusing their children with a homemade form of entertainment, her equally impressed look when the Barnum Museum inaugurated its banners of attractions, her being lifted to the air while they seem to be dancing in the moonlight on a rooftop, and the singular moment when she seemed to be reaching for something.

Will Michelle have some dramatic moments in the story?

Btw, she looks very feminine with her long blonde hair!

Jo

[jo]

[jo]

I have seen the video of the Michael Crawford BARNUM musical -- my overall impression was hazy on the storyline but that it was more of a spectacle of song, dance, and acrobatics ... and a little buffoonery

[jo]

I've seen a lot of Zendaya and Zac fans enthusing about the trailer and the movie! Hope they swell the audience ranks close to the number of their social media followers


Jo

[jo]

Executive Music Producer Alex Lacamoire is now attached to THE GREATEST SHOWMAN, presumably for the soundtrack album?

Hope this helps the album get awards-attention likewise.


variety.com/2017/film/news/greatest-showman-alex-lacamoire-executive-music-producer-1202508928/

‘Greatest Showman’ Taps Alex Lacamoire as Executive Music Producer (EXCLUSIVE)

Dave McNary
Film Reporter
@variety_DMcNary


July 27, 2017 | 03:10PM PT
Alex Lacamoire has joined 20th Century Fox’s “The Greatest Showman” as Executive Music Producer, Variety has learned exclusively.

Lacamoire is a three-time Tony and two-time Grammy winner for his work on the musicals “Hamilton,” “Dear Evan Hansen” and “In The Heights.”

He’s worked as music director, arranger and orchestrator on an array of Broadway stage shows including “Annie,” “Bring It On,” “The People In The Picture,” “9 to 5,” “Legally Blonde,” “High Fidelity,” and “Wicked.”


Hugh Jackman Invents Show Business in ‘The Greatest Showman’ First Trailer (Watch)

Other credits include “Bat Boy: The Musical”, “Godspell” (2001 National Tour), orchestrations for The Rockettes and the Oscars. He is an Emmy-nominated composer for “Sesame Street.”


Director Michael Gracey said, “We are so lucky to be working with such a brilliantly talented and incredibly skilled collaborator to bring the musical vision for this film to life.

Hugh Jackman plays P.T. Barnum, the showman with a specialty in hoaxing a gullible public, as he creates the three-ring Barnum & Bailey Circus that made him famous. Barnum had gained fame as a 19th Century impressario with tours of Tom Thumb and the singer Jenny Lind; he began calling it the “Greatest Show on Earth” near the end of his career.

Michelle Williams, Zendaya, Zac Efron and Rebecca Ferguson co-star. Producers on the film are Laurence Mark, Peter Chernin and Jenno Topping.

Fox is opening the movie on Christmas Day.

Here's an article on what an executive music producer may do for a project --

entertainment.howstuffworks.com/executive-producer3.htm

[jo]

[jo]

Interesting late additional creative team entry --

Art Department 

Stephanie Abbaspour
...
art department coordinator

François Audouy
...
production designer: additional photography

Presumably, their work is under the direction of the ones in charge of Art Direction AND Production Design


Francois Audouy headed Production Design for LOGAN ( which is a bigger project than THE GREATEST SHOWMAN...and very different in look and themes). Presumably he was brought in late into the project (maybe only at post-production/editing phase?) - I wonder why? Could this be part of the Marketing/Promotion campaign?

It also mentions that he did additional photography ( referring to doing film cinematography or taking photographs?)

Did Hugh suggest him ... or was it FOX itself which suggested that he be brought in?

Interesting!


Jo

[jo]

It looks like they are doing some reshoots --

sam.d.humphrey
🎥DAY 2 RESHOOTS🎥 ON THE GREATEST SHOWMAN.... ITS GONNA BE A AWESOME DAY!! 😊😁👍👊💯 ITS SHOWTIME! 🎩🦁🎪🤹‍♀️🎟 . . . . . . . . . .

@sam.d.humphrey
😁1ST-DAY-OF-RESHOOTS😁 STILL A BIT JET LAGGED😴.... but will push through it, SUPER EXCITED!!👊😀

Sam plays Tom Thumb in the movie. A little unusual that they are filming in L.A., as indicated in the earlier post (hashtag #Burbank) from Sam.


Jo

[jo]

Or could they be filming extra scenes for the next trailer ?


Jo

[jo]

@sam.d.humphrey
🎥DAY 3 RESHOOTS - FINAL DAY🎥 Its been a great few days filming on set "The Greatest Showman 🎩with Hugh Jackman and the others.... Gonna miss them all, until we meet again on the RED CARPET!! 💥💥 😊😁👊🎥🎬🎭 ITS SHOWTIME!! 🎩🦁🎪🤹‍♀️🎟 . . . . . . . . . . #actor  #australia  #victoria  #melbourne  #proudtobekiwi  #filming  #acting  #fun  #love  #actorslife  #followme  #instagram  #smile  #makeup  #amazing  #costume  #happysad  #selfievideo  #me  #warnerbros  #reshoots  #adventure  #exciting  #tomthumb  #20thcenturyfox  #Thegreatestshowman  #la  #latenight 
Warner Bros Studio, Los Angeles, California
082

[jo]

Final post from " TomThumb" re current reshoots --

www.imgrum.org/media/1602322186265052097_4526462136

@sam.d.humphrey

👊WARNER BROTHERS STUDIO 👊 And thats a official wrap of shooting/reshoots on "THE GREATEST SHOWMAN" 🎥🎬.... NEXT STOP RED CARPET PREMIERE!! 😊😁🤗👊💯 . . . . . . . . . . #actor  #australia  #victoria  #melbourne  #proudtobekiwi  #filming  #acting  #fun  #love  #actorslife  #followme  #instagram  #smile  #makeup  #amazing  #costume  #happy  #thatsawrap  #me  #emotional  #warnerbros  #adventure  #exciting  #tomthumb  #20thcenturyfox  #Thegreatestshowman  #la  #reshoots  #studio  #photooftheday 
Warner Bros Studio, Los Angeles, California
3241

[jo]

www.imgrum.org/media/1603166466919415506_4526462136

@sam.d.humphrey
💯MAKING DREAMS A REALITY💯 It takes guts to pursue your dreams. It's scary as hell to put yourself out there and fail time and time again, because you will, until you succeed which why only few people are really pursuing/living their dream and fulfilling their purpose in life..... LIVE LIFE OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE, AND AMAZING THINGS WILL HAPPEN 😊👊💯💣💥💥💥 . . . . . . . . . . #actor  #australia  #victoria  #melbourne  #proudtobekiwi  #filming  #acting  #fun  #love  #actorslife  #followme  #instagram  #smile  #risks  #amazing  #goals  #happy  #me  #livingthedream  #inspire  #adventure  #exciting  #tomthumb  #20thcenturyfox  #la  #putyourselfoutthere  #moviestar  #Thegreatestshowman 
Warner Bros Studio, Los Angeles, California
3132