107 Fun Facts About The Greatest Showman

Who directed The Greatest Showman?

Michael Gracey directed The Greatest Showman, his feature debut after years making commercials and music videos and working in visual effects.

In which year was The Greatest Showman released in US cinemas?

The Greatest Showman opened in US cinemas on December 20, 2017, a Wednesday, and grossed over $170 million domestically thanks to unusually small week-to-week drops.

Which actor plays Phillip Carlyle, the playwright who becomes Barnum's partner?

Zac Efron plays Phillip Carlyle, a character invented for the film; Efron was reported in talks for the role in June 2016.

Which actress plays Charity, Barnum's wife?

Michelle Williams plays Charity Barnum and sings on two soundtrack numbers, A Million Dreams and Tightrope.

Zendaya's character, Anne Wheeler, performs which circus act?

Anne Wheeler is a trapeze artist; Zendaya trained for weeks and performed most of her own aerial trapeze work on set.

Who plays the opera singer Jenny Lind?

Rebecca Ferguson plays opera singer Jenny Lind; her vocals were dubbed, so Ferguson lip-synced her showcase number on set.

Who provides Jenny Lind's singing voice in the film?

Loren Allred dubbed Jenny Lind's singing voice; her recording of Never Enough reached the Billboard Hot 100.

Which songwriting duo wrote all of the film's original songs?

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul wrote all of the film's original songs; the duo also wrote the songs for Dear Evan Hansen, which reached Broadway in 2016.

Which song from the film won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song?

This Is Me won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song and went on to an Academy Award nomination in the same category.

At the 90th Academy Awards, the film's nominated song lost Best Original Song to a track from which film?

Remember Me from Pixar's Coco won Best Original Song at the 90th Academy Awards, having already taken the Critics' Choice prize.

Which Broadway performer plays the bearded lady Lettie Lutz?

Keala Settle plays Lettie Lutz; she earned a Tony nomination for Hands on a Hardbody and originated Becky in Waitress on Broadway.

What was the film's production budget?

Deadline estimated the film would turn a profit of $50-100 million after a slow start at the box office.

Where was the film's December 2017 world premiere held?

The world premiere was held on December 8 aboard the Cunard ocean liner Queen Mary 2, with the ship docked in port for the night.

During which song did Hugh Jackman defy doctor's orders and sing at the 2016 Greatest Showman read-through?

From Now On closed the read-through: Jackman, told not to sing after surgery on his nose for skin cancer, stood and sang it anyway, and the studio greenlit the film.

Which Broadway performer sang Barnum's part at The Greatest Showman read-through while Jackman acted?

Jeremy Jordan, the Broadway star of Newsies, sang Barnum's part at the read-through while Jackman, recovering from surgery, acted the scenes.

Who choreographed The Greatest Showman?

Ashley Wallen choreographed The Greatest Showman, staging numbers including the bar-top duet The Other Side.

Rehearsals began in October 2016 in which location?

Rehearsals began in October 2016 in New York City, where principal photography then started on November 22, 2016.

How many years did The Greatest Showman take to develop?

The project was first announced in 2009 as The Greatest Showman on Earth, with Jackman already attached to the title role.

By roughly what percentage did the film's gross rise in its second US weekend?

The gross rose about 76%, from $8.8 million in the opening weekend to $15.5 million in the second, an exceptionally strong hold for a wide release.

Which film topped the US box office the weekend The Greatest Showman opened fourth?

Star Wars: The Last Jedi was number one in its second weekend, with Jumanji and Pitch Perfect 3 also ahead of The Greatest Showman's $8.8 million.

What grade did audiences polled by CinemaScore give the film?

Critics were far cooler, with a 56% Rotten Tomatoes score, but PostTrak found a 70% definite recommend.

Which studio distributed The Greatest Showman?

20th Century Fox distributed The Greatest Showman, opening it wide in US cinemas on December 20 ahead of the Christmas holiday.

Which director was reportedly brought onto The Greatest Showman as an executive producer during post-production?

James Mangold, fresh off Logan, was reportedly brought in during post-production and received an executive producer credit on The Greatest Showman.

Being taller than the real Tom Thumb, what did Sam Humphrey do to play Charles Stratton?

Sam Humphrey walked on his knees to play Charles Stratton, with visual effects hiding his legs; his voice was also digitally deepened.

The film's director went on to make Better Man, a biopic of which singer?

Better Man, the director's 2024 follow-up, is a Robbie Williams biopic built around his hits, including Angels and Rock DJ.

A stage adaptation of the film opened in spring 2026 in which UK city?

The stage musical of The Greatest Showman had its world premiere at the Bristol Hippodrome in spring 2026, its first staging anywhere.

A sequel was announced in 2019 but stalled after Disney ended its distribution deal with which production company?

Chernin Entertainment produced the original film; when its studio deal lapsed it signed a Netflix pact, leaving the sequel without a home.

How many original songs by the songwriting duo feature in the film?

The soundtrack runs to 11 tracks because two of the songs get reprises.

The soundtrack was the UK's best-selling album of which year?

The Greatest Showman soundtrack was the UK's best-selling album of 2018, finishing the year with more weeks at number one than any rival.

Which singer covered A Million Dreams on the Reimagined album, with her daughter singing the reprise?

Pink covered A Million Dreams on The Greatest Showman: Reimagined, with her daughter Willow Sage Hart singing A Million Dreams (Reprise).

Which artist covered Never Enough for The Greatest Showman: Reimagined?

Kelly Clarkson recorded Never Enough for The Greatest Showman: Reimagined, alongside covers by Kesha and Zac Brown Band.

Which band covered The Greatest Show on the Reimagined album?

Panic! at the Disco's cover of The Greatest Show was released as the lead single from The Greatest Showman: Reimagined, ahead of the full album.

Which duo covered Rewrite the Stars on the Reimagined album?

James Arthur and Anne-Marie, both English singers, recorded Rewrite the Stars for The Greatest Showman: Reimagined and released it as a single.

The Greatest Show, the film's opening number, later featured in which Marvel film?

Deadpool & Wolverine used The Greatest Show, with Hugh Jackman's Wolverine on screen; the track had earlier been WWE's theme for Backlash 2020.

The real P. T. Barnum was born in Bethel, in which US state?

Barnum was born in Bethel, Connecticut, in 1810 and later served as mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he built four mansions.

By what nickname was the real Jenny Lind widely known?

Jenny Lind was known as the Swedish Nightingale; she gave much of her American tour earnings to endow free schools in Sweden.

How much per night did Barnum offer Jenny Lind to tour America, having never heard her sing?

Barnum offered Jenny Lind $1,000 a night for 150 concerts plus expenses, and had to borrow against his properties to deposit the full fee in advance.

How many US concerts did Jenny Lind give under Barnum's management before ending the arrangement?

Jenny Lind gave 93 concerts under Barnum before invoking a contract clause to end the deal, then toured on her own for about another year.

In real life, why did Jenny Lind end her tour with Barnum early?

The film's spurned-lover storyline is invented; neither showed any romantic interest, and Lind found Barnum crude.

Barnum's 1842 Feejee Mermaid was the back half of a fish sewn to the upper body of what?

The Feejee Mermaid was a monkey's head and torso stitched to a fish's tail; Barnum's autobiography called it an ugly, dried-up, black-looking specimen.

Barnum's American Museum in Manhattan burned to the ground in which year?

Barnum's American Museum burned on July 13, 1865; two beluga whales died in their tank, and a replacement museum also burned in 1868.

What did it cost to get into Barnum's American Museum?

Admission to Barnum's American Museum was 25 cents, and some 38 million visitors paid it while the museum stood on Broadway.

How old was Charles Stratton when Barnum began exhibiting him as General Tom Thumb?

Barnum billed the four-year-old as eleven and taught him to impersonate figures such as Napoleon and Hercules.

Which president received General Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren at the White House after their wedding?

Abraham Lincoln hosted the newlyweds at a White House reception in February 1863, days after their wedding at Grace Church.

How old was Barnum when he finally entered the circus business?

Barnum was 60 when his travelling circus opened in April 1871; he had built his fame on the museum and Jenny Lind's tour decades earlier.

Which elephant, bought from London Zoo in 1882, became the star attraction of Barnum's circus?

Jumbo, bought from London Zoo in 1882 for $10,000, toured with Barnum's circus until he was killed by a train in Ontario in 1885.

Which saying is often attributed to Barnum, although no evidence exists that he ever coined it?

No evidence shows Barnum ever said 'There's a sucker born every minute'; he called himself the Prince of Humbugs and exposed spiritualist mediums as frauds.

The Greatest Showman opened seven months after which real circus gave its final show before a six-year hiatus?

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey gave its final performance that May on Long Island and returned in 2023 without animal acts.

Which real New York newspaperman appears in the film as Barnum's harshest critic?

James Gordon Bennett Sr., founder of the Herald, is the critic; after the museum fire he admits to Barnum that the show was a celebration of humanity.

What are the names of Barnum's two daughters in the film?

Barnum's daughters are Caroline and Helen, played by Austyn Johnson and Cameron Seely; Caroline is the one who takes up ballet.

At which event did producers first compare Hugh Jackman to P. T. Barnum, sparking the project?

Producers Laurence Mark and Bill Condon first likened Hugh Jackman to Barnum during rehearsals for the 2009 Academy Awards, which Jackman hosted.

Under what title was the film first announced?

The project was announced as The Greatest Showman on Earth, with Jackman attached to play Barnum from the outset.

Which monarch does Phillip Carlyle arrange for Barnum's troupe to meet?

Phillip Carlyle secures an audience with Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace, where Barnum first meets the opera star Jenny Lind.

What Grammy did The Greatest Showman win at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards?

The Greatest Showman won Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media at the 61st Grammy Awards, while Shallow from A Star Is Born took the song category.

How does Barnum travel to his daughters' ballet recital in the film's closing scene?

Barnum hands the show over to Phillip Carlyle and rides an elephant out of the circus tent to reach his daughters' recital.

Which two composers wrote the film's orchestral score, as opposed to its songs?

John Debney and Joseph Trapanese composed the orchestral score; Debney had earlier scored The Passion of the Christ.

On which streaming service did the film arrive in August 2020 after the Fox takeover?

The Greatest Showman arrived on Disney+ in the US in August 2020, the streaming home for the Fox library Disney had bought the year before.

P. T. Barnum of The Greatest Showman shared which first name with his grandfather, a noted practical joker?

Phineas Taylor Barnum shared the name with his maternal grandfather Phineas Taylor, a lottery schemer and practical joker. Known as Uncle Phin, he had a great influence on the future showman.

The real P. T. Barnum of The Greatest Showman asked a newspaper to print what early so he could read it?

His own obituary was what he asked the Evening Sun to run just before his death in 1891. On his last day he asked about the day's box-office receipts, and died a few hours later.

In the real museum behind The Greatest Showman, Barnum's signs lured crowds toward the Egress, which was what?

The exit was all the Egress ever was. Visitors who followed the signs expecting one more exhibit found themselves outside, clearing space for the next customers.

The Greatest Showman omits Joice Heth, whom the real Barnum billed as the 161-year-old former nurse of which president?

George Washington's nurse was the role Barnum gave Heth in 1835, the act that launched his career. A public autopsy he sold tickets to showed she was no older than 80.

In The Greatest Showman, what does Barnum deceptively offer a bank as collateral for his museum loan?

Ships already lost at sea served as his security. A typhoon had sunk his bankrupt employer's entire fleet, and Barnum let the bank believe the vessels were still afloat.

In the same year as The Greatest Showman, Zendaya made her feature-film debut in which superhero movie?

Spider-Man: Homecoming was Zendaya's first feature film, out the same year as the circus musical. Before it she was a children's TV star in the sitcom Shake It Up.

Bill Condon, co-writer of The Greatest Showman, directed which live-action Disney musical the same year?

Beauty and the Beast, with Emma Watson as Belle, was Condon's other musical that year. He earlier earned an Oscar nomination for writing the screenplay of Chicago.

When Barnum's museum first opens in The Greatest Showman, which exhibits fill its halls and fail to sell tickets?

Wax figures were all the museum had at first, and ticket sales were slow. Only when Barnum added living performers did the crowds, the protests and the bad reviews arrive.

In The Greatest Showman, who gives Barnum the idea of showcasing something alive when his museum is struggling?

His two daughters make the suggestion when ticket sales are slow, telling him the museum needs something living. Barnum responds by recruiting his troupe of unusual performers.

Where is young Charity sent in The Greatest Showman, leaving her and the young Barnum to keep in touch by letter?

Finishing school keeps Charity away, so the pair write to each other until they reunite as adults and marry. Their humble life afterwards satisfies her, but Barnum craves more.

In The Greatest Showman, young Barnum's father Philo serves the Hallett family, parents of Charity, as what?

A tailor is what Philo Barnum is in the film, and working for the Halletts is how his son meets Charity. The real Philo was also an innkeeper and a storekeeper.

Where does Barnum's troupe find the ruined showman in The Greatest Showman before persuading him to rebuild?

In a local bar is where the troupe tracks Barnum down after he has lost his circus, his mansion and his family. They tell him that, whatever their disappointments, they still see themselves as a family.

How does Barnum cut costs when he rebuilds his burned-out circus at the end of The Greatest Showman?

He moves into a tent, making the show an open-air circus because a new building is beyond his means. His junior partner pays for it with a saved share of the profits and becomes a full partner.

What does a spurned Jenny Lind do at the end of her final show in The Greatest Showman?

She kisses Barnum on stage in retaliation after he rejects her advances. The press photograph of that kiss reaches Charity, who takes the children to her parents' home.

The Greatest Showman's songwriting duo won the Tony for Best Original Score with which Ben Platt musical?

Dear Evan Hansen won six Tonys, including Best Musical and Best Original Score for the duo. The show was inspired by the death of a fellow student during one writer's teens.

Before The Greatest Showman, Hugh Jackman earned an Oscar nomination singing which role in the film of Les Misérables?

Jean Valjean brought Jackman a Best Actor nomination and a Golden Globe win, proof he could carry a screen musical. His early theatre roles included Gaston and Sunset Boulevard's Joe Gillis.

The actress who plays Jenny Lind in The Greatest Showman is also MI6 agent Ilsa Faust in which spy films?

Mission: Impossible made her a star as Ilsa Faust, the female lead opposite Tom Cruise from Rogue Nation onward. She went on to star in the Dune films.

Hugh Jackman and the debut director of The Greatest Showman both come from which country?

Australia produced both men: Jackman was born in Sydney and the director grew up in Melbourne. The film was the director's first feature.

Before making his feature debut with The Greatest Showman, the film's director built his reputation making what?

TV commercials made his reputation, above all his festive-season adverts in Britain and the United States. He had started out in visual effects and music videos.

Jenny Bicks, who co-wrote The Greatest Showman with Bill Condon, made her name writing for which HBO series?

Sex and the City was where Bicks made her name as a television writer. She also created the series Men in Trees and wrote the film What a Girl Wants.

Which future Aquaman villain plays the acrobat W. D. Wheeler in The Greatest Showman?

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II plays the troupe's acrobat W. D. a year before becoming Black Manta in Aquaman. He later won an Emmy as Doctor Manhattan in the series Watchmen.

The actress behind Lettie Lutz in The Greatest Showman originated the role of Becky in which Broadway musical?

Waitress opened on Broadway in 2016 with her as Becky, the year before the film. She had earlier earned a Tony nomination for the short-lived musical Hands on a Hardbody.

The singer who dubbed Jenny Lind's vocals in The Greatest Showman had competed on which TV talent show in 2012?

The Voice had her on Adam Levine's team in its third season, where she went out in the first week of the playoffs. Ten years later she earned a golden buzzer on Britain's Got Talent.

An advert for The Greatest Showman, performed in real time by 150 dancers, aired during which TV musical special?

A Christmas Story Live! carried the advert, a number lasting two and a half minutes performed by the film's stars. The special's songs came from the same writing duo as the film's.

Two months after The Greatest Showman opened, which special version of the film reached UK cinemas?

A sing-along edition reached British cinemas that February, a sign of how the songs had taken hold. The same cut was later included on the home-video release.

Which Dwayne Johnson adventure film opened in US cinemas on the very same day as The Greatest Showman?

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle arrived on the same December day. Both films grew in their second weekend, and the musical set the record for the best hold by a wide release.

The Greatest Showman lost the Golden Globe for best musical or comedy film to which Greta Gerwig coming-of-age drama?

Lady Bird took the prize, as well as Best Actress for Saoirse Ronan. The circus musical converted just one of its Globe nominations, for Best Original Song.

The Greatest Showman soundtrack's 28 weeks at UK number one matched the total of a 1967 album by which band?

The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band also totalled 28 weeks at number one. The soundtrack got there in separate runs, returning to the top again and again for more than a year.

Which Book of Mormon co-director staged and choreographed the stage musical of The Greatest Showman?

Casey Nicholaw directed and choreographed the stage version, which keeps the film's songs and adds five new ones. He won his directing Tony for The Book of Mormon, shared with Trey Parker.

Decades before The Greatest Showman, which narrator of America's Harry Potter audiobooks won a Tony as P. T. Barnum?

Jim Dale won the 1980 Tony for the Broadway musical Barnum, playing opposite Glenn Close as Charity. American listeners know him as the reader of all seven Harry Potter audiobooks.

The newspaper critic who torments Barnum in The Greatest Showman was the real founder of which daily paper?

The New York Herald was the paper he launched in 1835 and ran as editor and publisher. Under his son it later paid for Stanley's expedition to find Livingstone in Africa.

Which two leading characters in The Greatest Showman were invented for the film?

Phillip Carlyle and Anne Wheeler were completely fictional, created to give the plot a forbidden romance. Barnum's wife, his star singer and his smallest performer were all real people.

The real P. T. Barnum of The Greatest Showman became mayor of which New England city, where he built four mansions?

Bridgeport elected Barnum mayor in 1875, and he used the office to improve the water supply and bring gas lighting to the streets. He also helped to found the city's hospital.

Iranistan, the onion-domed mansion of The Greatest Showman's real hero, was modelled on which English landmark?

The Royal Pavilion in Brighton, with its domes and spires, was the building Barnum admired on a visit to England. His copy stood for only a decade before it burned down.

Unlike the Barnum of The Greatest Showman, the real showman gave up which habit and went on to lecture against it?

Drinking alcohol was what Barnum gave up after returning from Europe, becoming a teetotaler. He opened his museum theatre with a play called The Drunkard and toured as a temperance speaker to clear his debts.

Absent from The Greatest Showman, which attraction did the real Barnum's museum become the first in America to house?

An aquarium, America's first, was added to the museum during its later expansion. Its tank even held two beluga whales, which died when the building caught fire.

The real circus behind The Greatest Showman was the first to display what, giving English a phrase for chaos?

Three rings were first displayed by Barnum's circus after an 1881 merger, giving audiences more to watch than they could follow. A three-ring circus now means any noisy, confusing scene.

The real showman behind The Greatest Showman was among the first circus owners to move a whole show by what?

Railway trains carried Barnum's circus from town to town, an idea his business partners suggested. He was probably the first showman to own a train outright.

Which mocking title did the real P. T. Barnum of The Greatest Showman earn for his cheerful hoaxes?

The Prince of Humbugs was what Barnum was often called. He argued that a hoax was fair if the public got value in return, yet he exposed spirit mediums who cheated the bereaved.

How did the real Barnum sell the most sought-after tickets for the Jenny Lind tour dramatized in The Greatest Showman?

At auction, to the highest bidder, was how Barnum sold seats for the concerts in greatest demand. Public excitement ran so high that the press coined the term Lind mania.

The real Tom Thumb, portrayed in The Greatest Showman, delighted audiences by impersonating which military leader?

Napoleon Bonaparte was a favourite turn in an act that also had him play Cupid and trade jokes with a straight man. Barnum himself taught the boy to sing, dance, mime and mimic the famous.

As a young man, the real P. T. Barnum of The Greatest Showman spent two months in jail for what?

Libel put him in jail after editorials in his own weekly newspaper attacked the elders of nearby churches. He was barely into his twenties and already ran a shop and a lottery business.

Far from chasing Barnum as in The Greatest Showman, the real Jenny Lind married which member of her American tour?

Her pianist, Otto Goldschmidt, joined the tour in 1851 and married Lind in Boston the following February. The couple later settled in England, where he founded the Bach Choir.

Which writer fell in love with the real Jenny Lind of The Greatest Showman, who offered him only friendship?

Hans Christian Andersen met Lind in 1843 and fell in love, but she saw him only as a friend. One biographer believes the icy heart of his Snow Queen was his answer to her rejection.

The real Jenny Lind, unlike her character in The Greatest Showman, gave her American tour earnings mainly to what?

Educating poor children in her homeland was the main cause she funded, endowing free classrooms there. She demanded her fee in advance, and Barnum had to borrow heavily to pay it.

The real Barnum of The Greatest Showman, refused the original, displayed his own plaster copy of which famous hoax?

The Cardiff Giant was a ten-foot gypsum figure passed off as a petrified man. When its owners sued Barnum for calling theirs a fake, a judge ruled that he could not be sued for calling a fake a fake.

Hugh Jackman's Golden Globe nomination for The Greatest Showman lost out to James Franco's turn in which film?

The Disaster Artist won Franco the musical-or-comedy acting Globe for playing Tommy Wiseau, maker of the notoriously bad film The Room. Jackman had won the same award five years earlier.

The real Barnum of The Greatest Showman wrote a million-selling autobiography that which American author loved?

Mark Twain loved the book, though a British reviewer called it trashy and offensive. Through many revisions it sold more than a million copies.

The real Barnum of The Greatest Showman staged flower, dog and poultry shows, but which competition proved most popular?

Baby contests were the most popular of the competitions Barnum organised, ahead of his flower, dog and poultry shows. In the same years he launched a pictorial weekly newspaper.

In which Midwestern state did the real Barnum of The Greatest Showman launch his first travelling circus?

Wisconsin was the launch pad: the show was organised in the town of Delavan with the circus man William Cameron Coup. Barnum had left the museum business after fire destroyed his second building.