baj2
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Post by baj2 on Feb 13, 2017 7:02:13 GMT
On Christmas Day this year, FOX will release a movie musical that the studio itself is producing. It will be an original movie musical, the first one in decades that is both produced and released by one of the major studios, called THE GREATEST SHOWMAN. It is a musical biopic based on the life of the first known impresario P.T.Barnum, who is also known for having founded the Barnum and Bailey Circus. It has been described as a classic musical, in the tradition of West Side Story, The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins. Key creatives include Oscar-winning screenwriter Michael Arndt ( with some inputs from Bill Condon of Beauty & the Beast and Dreamgirls) while the musical score has been composed by the current favorite composer team of Pasek & Paul ( Lalaland lyrics/Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway). Direction is by Michael Gracey who has been associated with the project for all the development phases since years ago. While it is a period musical, it is said to be told with a contemporary prism.
This is a new musical and is not the same one which played on Broadway and London, simply called BARNUM ( composed by Cy Coleman).
It features a very strong cast! Hugh Jackman, who has led the project since 2009, is cast as Barnum...and has extensive stage and film experience with musicals, including the film adaptation of Les Miserables. Michelle Williams ( Sally Bowles in Cabaret on Broadway) is cast as his wife, Charity. Zac Efron ( High School Musical and Hairspray) is the protégé/ringmaster. Disney song-and-dance star Zendaya is his romantic interest and plays a trapeze artist. Rebecca Ferguson ( from Mission Impossible, but has musical training) is the famous Swedish singer Jenny Lind with whom Barnum might have been involved? Keala Settle represents the Broadway community along with a few others - she is likely portraying The Bearded Lady.
The film project, initiated by Jackman in 2009, has been workshopped like a stage musical -- with the final reading for FOX execs handled by Broadway actors/singers ( Jeremy Jordan of Newsies, Cynthia Erivo of Color Purple, Keala Settle of Waitress, Caroline Bowman, etc) in early 2016. The story goes that Jackman was unable to handle the singing for that reading because of a previous day skin cancer surgery...but during the finale, stood up and started singing ( against doctor's orders) over Jeremy Jordan's vocal efforts and stunned the people present).
The movie is filming now in NYC ... and likely working around Jackman's media tour schedule for the upcoming LOGAN movie.
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baj2
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Post by baj2 on Feb 13, 2017 7:37:50 GMT
Rehearsal photo -- Jackman and Efron Filming set photo -- Hugh Jackman and Michelle Williams Set photo -- Jackman and Efron
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Post by Catman on Feb 13, 2017 14:11:10 GMT
This sounds like fun.
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Post by politicidal on Mar 13, 2017 17:33:40 GMT
Sounds really interesting. I'm excited for that.
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baj2
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Post by baj2 on Mar 14, 2017 8:27:06 GMT
Update : The composers Pasek & Paul won an Oscar this year for their work as lyricists in LA LA LAND!
So, the key creatives of screenwriter ( Michael Arndt) and musical score composer for this movie musical ( Pasek & Paul) are Oscar winners. Arndt won an Oscar for original screenplay for Little Miss Sunshine and was also nominated for adapted screenplay for Toy Story 3. He has also written the screenplay for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Hunger Games : Catching Fire. Inputs to the script were also contributed by Bill Condon ( director of Dreamgirls and the live-action Beauty and the Beast)...as well as from Jenny Bicks.
Jackman has an Oscar nomination for Les Miserables, Michelle Williams has been nominated for an Oscar 4 times and has performed on Broadway for the musical Cabaret.
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baj2
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Post by baj2 on Apr 1, 2017 4:33:34 GMT
The early teaser/footages at CinemaCon (annual convention of theater exhibitors where studios present their slates for the rest of the year) were met with strong approval -- variety.com/2017/film/news/the-greatest-showman-hugh-jackman-cinemacon-1202019565/It must have helped that that part of the FOX presentation was hosted by Hugh Jackman himself, who has a great reputation on Broadway for masterful performances!
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Post by BATouttaheck on Apr 2, 2017 3:23:00 GMT
How ironic and sad that a movie about Barnum is being made in the year that his circus has been killed by people who don't like the circus.
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baj2
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Post by baj2 on Apr 3, 2017 1:59:32 GMT
An era passes. But it doesn't mean people will not like seeing a retelling of the story.
Last Christmas season, I joined our family to watch a Las Vegas troupe called Le Grande Cirque visit our shores ... and when I asked our young relative who lives in America ( maybe 6 years old) what she liked about the show as I noticed how rapt her attention was ( she was watching at the edge of her seat) -- her unabashed reply : "All of it!". The act included high-wire trapeze, acrobatic feats, precision feats, fire acts, etc., laced with comedy by a clown ringmaster ( who looked like he came from a French pantomime act) who made everyone laughed!
Perhaps we can partly watch the movie through the eyes of a child! Although I must say I was also gasping at the spectacle shown in that circus act from Las Vegas!
Also, this movie is set to music ( by Pasek and Paul, recent Oscar winners for LA LA LAND) and that ties in very well for a family entertainment spectacle when it is released at Christmastime. That seems to evoke the excitement that circuses used to bring, when children were the focus of the clowns's hysterical acts and the trapeze artists's death-defying feats. But behind those happy faces of the entertainers are sometimes sad backstories -- a hint of what was shown in the stunning footage of The Bearded Lady at CinemaCon. The strong reception at this theater exhibitors convention of the musical aspects seems to indicate that that is potentially how the movie will be received!
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baj2
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Post by baj2 on Apr 3, 2017 2:05:46 GMT
Photos taken on set while filming in lower Manhattan, as the movie nears its film wrap.
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baj2
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Post by baj2 on Apr 3, 2017 2:12:20 GMT
Can't wait to see the team-up of these two versatile actors, in roles which are a far cry from their usual screen portrayals -- Hugh and Michelle ( together with Ewan McGregor) were excellent in that little-known film noir-ish tale of the dark and seedy side of Manhattan night life called DECEPTION .
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baj2
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Post by baj2 on Apr 3, 2017 2:15:17 GMT
Not exactly LOGAN
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Post by BATouttaheck on Apr 4, 2017 3:50:21 GMT
as a major fan of all things circus I may have to break down and see it in a theater when it comes out
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baj2
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Post by baj2 on Apr 4, 2017 12:27:29 GMT
I am hoping that the movie will not just be all music and spectacle... but will also have dramatic elements, especially in terms of character development!
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Post by BATouttaheck on Apr 6, 2017 2:24:59 GMT
Do they still do "character development" ? baj2
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baj2
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Post by baj2 on Apr 6, 2017 7:43:26 GMT
The final script for this movie was completed by Michael Arndt who won an Oscar for an original screenplay ( Little Miss Sunshine) and also received a nomination for an adapted screenplay in another movie. I would assume that his work for this movie will likely have some dramatic substance and it is not just about spectacle.
Btw, Hugh Jackman is currently in a movie still in release called LOGAN ( his farewell solo Wolverine spinoff movie). It had a surprising storyline and characterizations and the film earned a very high aggregate rating at Rotten Tomatoes ( 92%, vs 94% for the highest-rated superhero movie The Dark Knight). This was attributed by critics to the film's strong character development aspects!
So, even if the genre is not full-on drama, a good film could make character development as one of its cinematic goals, especially if the movie is a biopic.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2017 16:58:46 GMT
Can't wait, Hugh Jackman is my favorite actor.
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baj2
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Post by baj2 on May 17, 2017 23:45:40 GMT
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baj2
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Post by baj2 on Jun 26, 2017 1:53:31 GMT
Sorry, the teaser-clip was not shown on the video itself.
But this week will be 6 months from release of the movie on December 25!
Hopefully, we will get a trailer very soon!
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baj2
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Post by baj2 on Jun 28, 2017 13:18:07 GMT
First trailer --
Uploaded on YouTube by FOX --
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baj2
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Post by baj2 on Jun 30, 2017 5:25:33 GMT
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