Step right up! The trailer for circus musical ‘The Greatest Showman’ is here

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Hot off their Oscar wins for La La Land and Tony wins for Dear Evan Hansen, the composing and songwriting duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul are already looking to conquer next year’s Oscars with The Greatest Showman, a new musical film based on the life of world renowned circus promoter P.T. Barnum, founder of Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Also hoping to extend a good year is its star, Tony winner and Oscar nominee Hugh Jackman. With his standalone X-Men film Logan being a huge box office and critical smash this spring, he’s also looking for some awards gold with this high flying musical that’s surely to be a favorite of the Golden Globes this season. The all-star cast also includes Zac Efron, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, newcomer Kaela Settle (who could be an awards contender a la Jennifer Hudson with a showstopping number) and four-time Oscar nominee Michelle Williams. Fun fact: Glenn Close played Charity Barnum (Williams’ role) on Broadway and was Tony-nominated for it. The Oscars love their long-suffering wives so keep an eye on her to potentially land a 5th nomination. You can see where I and the Gold Rush Gang think The Greatest Showman stands in the Oscar race right here. With catchy songs, lush visuals, costumes and production design, it’s likely to be a major contender this season.

The Greatest Showman is directed by Michael Gracey in his feature film debut, written by Emmy winner Jenny Bicks (TV’s Sex and the City) and Oscar winner Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters, Dreamgirls) and produced by Chernin Entertainment (Hidden Figures) and will be released by 20th Century Fox on Christmas Day.

Here is the trailer.

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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