Television

'The Greatest Showman' Live Movie Trailer: Hugh Jackman And The Cast Are Doing It Live

greatest showman live movie trailer
By Hoai-Tran Bui

A Christmas Story: Live heard that you like your musicals, so how about a musical within your musical? Viewers of the latest in the live TV musical phenomenon were treated to a surprising commercial from this season's anticipated musical starring Hugh Jackman as a highly fictionalized version of P.T. Barnum.

But instead of your run-of-the-mill TV spot, The Greatest Showman went above and beyond and performed one of the film's numbers live. Gotta live up to that title.

During Fox's Sunday night premiere of A Christmas Story: Live, the cast of The Greatest Showman attempted something that has never been done before: film a live television commercial. Aided by 150 dancers, Hugh Jackman led cast members Zendaya, Zac Efron, and Keala Settle performed the upbeat musical number "Come Alive" on the stages at the Warner Bros Studios in Burbank.

The Greatest Showman Live Trailer

Touted as the "world's first live movie commercial," the two-and-a-half minute number is led by Jackman in his red ringleader costume, entreating a group of children to join him before the stage erupts into song and dance, 150 dancers swarming through the set. Zendaya and Efron eventually join Jackman before Settle breaks into the high notes of the song, all of them effortlessly dancing and keeping pitch. It's no wonder that "Come Alive" was chosen as the song for the commercial — Jackman, Zendaya, Efron and Settle are all consummate and experienced performers, with experience on the stage and on the Disney Channel musical roster.

The Greatest Showman cast have been hard at work preparing for the commercial. In the week leading up to it, Jackman has been posting pictures and videos of the rehearsals — mainly of his difficult hat trick, which he naturally nailed during the live performance.

The cast and crew of The Greatest Showman seem eager to remind you that this is a musical. The past couple TV spots and featurettes have made it a point to highlight songwriting La La Land duo Justin Paul and Ben Hasek, but this bombastic commercial will definitely leave a mark.

The movie has already been nominated for several Golden Globes, including Best Motion Picture in the Musical or Comedy category, Jackman for Best Actor in a Motion Picture in the Musical or Comedy category, and the song "This Is Me" for Best Original Song.

Here is the synopsis for The Greatest Showman:

Inspired by the imagination of P. T. Barnum, The Greatest Showman is an original musical that celebrates the birth of show business & tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation.

The Greatest Showman hits theaters on December 20, 2017.

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