Yahoo News Greatest Showman is Hugh Jackman's "antidote" to Logan
Hugh Jackman knocked our socks off earlier in 2017 with his astonishing Wolverine swan song Logan, but there's no denying it was a grim, heartbreaking ride.
Well, he's hoping to turn things around this Christmas with The Greatest Showman, which he's pitching as a complete 180° on the hardness of his final X-Men movie.
"If I look at this year, Logan to The Greatest Showman, I mean, one couldn't be lighter and one couldn't be darker, really," he told Digital Spy.
"We went to some pretty dark places. It took a lot of discipline to really stay there and keep going deeper and to explore that character in a film that wasn't a genre film, but just a film.
"And then, I think, maybe me and the audience needed some kind of antidote to that, and that's what this is. This is pretty unashamedly wearing its heart on its sleeve, and designed to make people happy, and make a smile on their face.
"It's broad. It's meant for five-year-olds to 90-year-olds. We leave you with great music and dance, and having a good time."
Not only do we get Jackman in all-singing, all-dancing mode in this film about the 19th century American entertainment mogul PT Barnum, but Michelle Williams, Zendaya and Rebecca Ferguson are along for the ride.
And that's not to forget Zac Efron, who makes his return to the genre for the first time since 2008's High School Musical 3: Senior Year.
"He was the first on after me, in terms of actors," said Jackman. "I think he could see that it was something different for him to do in a genre that he was known for.
"I think generally, he's been really surprising people in a way, and he's one of the ones that people talk about a lot in the film."
Jackman also bought advert and music video director Michael Gracey on board for his first feature film.
"I knew that he could make a great movie, and more importantly, he had a quality about him that was very Barnum-esque, in that there was 100% commitment and belief," he said. "He never, ever wavered or doubted. And he was hungry."
After turning down "a lot of movies", Jackman convinced Gracey that this was the one for him.
As for Barnum, Jackman was first and foremost looking for an excuse to do a musical, but he got drawn into the story of a man who was far ahead of the curve in terms of marketing, publicity and entertainment for the masses.
"I think of him, in terms of today, as like Elon Musk, as like a Steve Jobs," he said. "He saw the world in a different way. He had a lot of mongrel in him that he wouldn't let anyone stop him. But he did have a vision, a genuine vision for the future, and it came out of being exploited, I think."
The Greatest Showman will be released on December 20 in the US and December 26 in the UK.
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