Hugh Jackman for Christmas! The Greatest Showman on Earth Movie Musical Sets Release Date

We finally have a date with P.T. Barnum! As previously reported,Tony winner Hugh Jackman will headline The Greatest Showman on Earth, which will begin shooting in summer 2015 in New York. According to Deadline, Fox will release the long-awaited movie on Christmas Day 2016.

The film will follow P.T. Barnum’s career that led him to be known as the iconic entertainer and creator of the three-ring circus. Jackman initially signed on to play the entertainment pioneer in The Greatest Showman on Earth in 2009, but the project stalled. This marks the first original live action musical from a studio since Disney’s Newsies in 1992.

Oscar winner Bill Condon, who directed and provided original material for the recent revival of Side Show, has worked on the current draft of the script. Visual effects artist and commercial director Michael Gracey will helm the feature film. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the Tony-nominated duo behind A Christmas Story, are among the composers who will provide material for the movie. The score will also feature songs by Scissor Sisters front-man Jake Shears, singer/songwriter Bonnie McKee and Brian Lapin.

Jackman, who is currently starring on Broadway in The River, won a Tony Award for playing Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz and has also appeared on Broadway in A Steady Rain and Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway. The star’s many film and TV credits include Australia, Swordfish, Kate & Leopold, Real Steel, The Prestige, Les Miserables and the X-Men series, including The Wolverine.