While not exactly a guarantee, there's usually a movie released each year that basically needs to be experienced on the big screen... because to catch it anywhere else would deflate the point. Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk, released earlier this year, was one such film. If you eventually catch the movie on an airplane, you might wonder what the fuss is all about. Well, the same can be said for Michael Gracey's The Greatest Showman, a musical spectacle so vivid and buoyant with the power of its songbook that if you happen to skip it in theaters, you are missing out on a huge chunk of the movie's impact. We recently asked the Greatest Showman cast why this movie NEEDS to be seen theatrically, and Hugh Jackman happily explained:
The Greatest Showman is about putting on, not only a massive show, but a great celebration of life, of humanity. I think the biggest screen you can see it on -- and see it with as many people as possible. It is kind of designed in a way a Broadway musical is designed. It's designed for people to clap after the numbers, to stand up and cheer.
There's no question that director Michael Gracey has delivered a crowd-pleaser of a rousing musical with The Greatest Showman, a biopic (of sorts) of carnival founder P.T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman) and the circus oddities he grew to call his family. Songs like "A Million Dreams," "The Other Side," "Come Alive," "Rewrite the Stars" and "Never Enough" are designed to blast from the loud speakers in a stadium-seating theater. As co-star Rebecca Ferguson tells CinemaBlend:
Oh my word, well, if you are going to go see a musical where the songs are intoxicating, where the beat is loud, where the bass is pumping, there's no discussion.
But it's not just the sound and the picture-quality. The Greatest Showman co-star Zac Efron tells us that the movie is supposed to be enjoyed with a boisterous crowd, telling CinemaBlend:
This movie was made to be a collective community experience. We want you to go in and be amongst people so that the energy of the audience [is] as infectious as in a Broadway show. It is meant to be seen with a bunch of people. And this movie, in particular, is just one that really gets the spirit going. I don't think it would be half... part of the movie is immersing yourself in it.
As for his part, P.T. Barnum himself, Hugh Jackman, concluded:
It is heartwarming, and there is spectacle, and all of that. I think you want the best sound, because for me, the music is really the ace here. Anyway, I hope you can enjoy it. I know it's hard sometimes to get to the cinema, but hopefully you can.
Listen the cast sing the praises of this movie on our exclusive clip:
You will be able to see (and hear) for yourself when The Greatest Showman roars into theaters on Wednesday, December 20. And stay here, as we'll have more from our conversation with the cast on CinemaBlend all week!
