60 Fun Facts About The Greatest Showman

Who directed The Greatest Showman?

It was his feature debut after a career in visual effects, music videos and Christmas commercials in the UK and US.

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

It opened on December 20, 2017, twelve days after a premiere held on board an ocean liner docked in New York.

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

The character is entirely fictional; he entered negotiations for the part in June 2016, three years after the songs were commissioned.

Which actress plays Charity, Barnum's wife?

She sings two numbers on the soundtrack and said she modelled the character's sunny disposition on a classic Hollywood star.

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

Anne is one of the two invented lead characters; her romance with Phillip Carlyle plays out at a time when interracial relationships were taboo.

Who plays the opera singer Jenny Lind?

Her singing was dubbed; the vocalist had been recording demos for the project since 2014.

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

Her big ballad from the film gave her a Billboard Hot 100 debut and went double platinum in the US, UK and Canada.

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

The studio hired them in 2013, the year before their Broadway breakthrough Dear Evan Hansen began previews.

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

It also earned an Academy Award nomination and a Grammy nomination for Best Song Written for Visual Media.

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

Pixar's Remember Me took the Oscar; the same song also beat it at the Critics' Choice Awards.

Which Broadway performer plays the bearded lady Lettie Lutz?

She earned a Tony nomination for Hands on a Hardbody and originated Becky in Waitress before her breakout film role.

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 Cunard liner was docked in New York for the occasion.

The film was pushed back a full year from Christmas 2016 to avoid which rival musical?

It ended up opening on December 20, 2017, five days earlier than its rescheduled Christmas slot.

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

The moment brought the read-through to an emotional end and got the film greenlit; a Broadway singer had been drafted in to sing his part.

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

He had already recorded demos for the film in 2015 and was originally there to sing Phillip Carlyle's part.

Who choreographed The Greatest Showman?

Mathieu Leopold served as circus coordinator and Shannon Holtzapffel also choreographed; Holtzapffel later fronted a home-video dance tutorial campaign.

Rehearsals began in October 2016 in which location?

Principal photography followed on November 22, 2016, after Jackman had spent ten weeks in preparation.

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, a record for a 3,000-plus-theater run?

It went from $9 million to $15.5 million and kept holding, eventually becoming the 14th-highest-grossing film never to reach number one at the US box office.

The film opened fourth at the US box office. Which film was number one that weekend?

Jumanji and Pitch Perfect 3 also finished ahead of it; it took a modest $9 million over the three-day weekend.

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?

Disney's later purchase of the studio is why the film landed on Disney+ in August 2020.

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

There were eight producers on the film; the director said it was amazing to have one of them be a filmmaker.

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

His voice was also digitally deepened; the New Zealand-born actor made his screen debut on Neighbours.

Zendaya has said this film's press tour was the first time she deliberately did what on a red carpet?

The practice means matching outfits to a film's themes or characters; she has since become its most-cited exponent.

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

Before directing, he cut his teeth working with Baz Luhrmann on visual scrapbooks for Moulin Rouge!

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

It is Disney Theatrical's first stage adaptation of a film from the Fox library, with five new songs added to the score.

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

Jackman had been confirmed to return, and in 2022 he said he was still keen if the two companies could agree terms.

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.

Which album's record of 11 straight weeks at UK number one did a soundtrack equal in March 2018?

It went on to rack up 28 non-consecutive weeks at the top, matching Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

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

It shifted over 1.6 million combined units in Britain and was also America's best-selling album of the year in pure sales.

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

Her daughter Willow Sage Hart handled the reprise; the cover went to number one in the Netherlands.

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

She praised the original vocalist on Twitter after recording her version.

Which band's Reimagined cover of The Greatest Show ends with a Queen-styled guitar solo?

Rolling Stone said it stayed faithful to the brass fanfare of the original but beefed up the drums; Pentatonix also covered the song.

Which duo covered Rewrite the Stars on the Reimagined album?

The English pair performed it on The X Factor and The Voice within days of each other in December 2018.

The Greatest Show, the film's opening number, later featured in which 2024 Marvel film?

The track had already served as the theme for WWE's Backlash 2020 and its 'Greatest Wrestling Match Ever'.

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

He later served as mayor of Bridgeport, built four mansions there and designed the cemetery in which he is buried.

By what nickname was the real Jenny Lind widely known?

She retired from opera at 29 and gave her American earnings to charity, chiefly free schools in Sweden.

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

The deal was for 150 nights with all expenses paid; she demanded the fee in advance, and he had to mortgage his mansion and museum to raise it.

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

She earned about $350,000 from them while Barnum netted at least $500,000; she then toured for nearly another year on her own.

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?

Barnum himself described it as an ugly, dried-up, black-looking specimen about three feet long that seemed to have died in great agony.

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

Two beluga whales died in their tank during the blaze; a replacement museum burned down as well in 1868, after which Barnum turned to politics and the circus.

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

About 38 million people paid it between 1841 and 1865, at a time when the entire US population was under 32 million.

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 1863 wedding?

Some 10,000 guests attended the reception, where the couple greeted them from atop a grand piano.

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

His travelling show launched in Delavan, Wisconsin in 1870 and became the source of much of his lasting fame.

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

The film's finale nods to it when Barnum rides off on an elephant to his daughters' ballet recital.

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

He preferred to call himself the Prince of Humbugs, and despised outright fraudsters such as spiritualist mediums.

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

The circus returned in 2023 without animal acts, six years after folding.

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

It is Bennett who tells Barnum that Jenny Lind has cancelled her tour after his 'scandal'.

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

It is the girls who suggest the museum showcase something 'alive', prompting Barnum to recruit his troupe.

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

Jackman was hosting the 81st Oscars; Laurence Mark and Bill Condon then brought in ceremony writer Jenny Bicks to develop the story.

Under what longer title was the film first announced in 2009?

Jackman was attached to the title role from the very start, eight years before the film reached cinemas.

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

It is at the royal reception that Barnum first encounters the opera star Jenny Lind, setting up the film's second act.

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

The soundtrack also equalled Adele's record of 11 straight weeks at number one in the UK.

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

He hands the show over to Phillip and rides an African bush elephant out of the circus to make the recital.

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

Pasek and Paul handled the nine original songs while Debney and Trapanese scored the rest of the film.

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

Disney's Theatrical Group later made it the company's first stage adaptation of a 20th Century Fox film.