Hugh Jackman’s 2017 hit, The Greatest Showman, has found a new streaming home this November. The hit musical drama, which featured a fictionalized portrayal of P.T. Barnum, premiered in 2017 and became an immediate success, grossing $459 million, earning widespread praise from audiences, and receiving multiple accolades. This feature was previously available on platforms, but by next month, fans will be able to access it on another streaming provider.
The Greatest Showman will be available on Peacock on November 1, starring Jackman as real-life (and controversial) P.T. Barnum, who started the “Barnum Circus” featuring people with distinct appearances. As his success continues to grow, he also faces critics and protesters and spends less time with his family. This musical drama was well-received by audiences, earning a high 86% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Additionally, the soundtrack found massive success, generating millions of streams, with “Rewrite the Stars”, performed by Zac Efron and Zendaya, the most-streamed song with over 1.1 billion streams. Additionally, the Academy gave The Greatest Showman song “This Is Me” an Oscar nomination for “Best Original Song,” but lost to Coco’s “Remember Me.”
Other Films and TV Shows That Featured a Fictionalized History
Despite praise from the audience, The Greatest Showman received mixed reviews from critics, earning a 56% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, noting that the film made Barnum likable when reality says otherwise. It also sugarcoated the facts, like how he would exploit and manipulate people for his own gain. It also rewrote Barnum’s time with Jenny Lind (Rebecca Ferguson), since there was no romantic affair or scandal. Also, two of the characters in the feature, Phillip Carlyle and Anne Wheeler, played by Efron and Zendaya, were entirely fictional and created for the film.
The Greatest Showman isn’t the only project to fictionalize real-life history. Other notable examples include James Cameron’s Titanic, which introduced two characters, Rose (Kate Winslet) and Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio), who were not present during the actual event but used the tragedy to develop their characters. Also included in the list are features inspired by Ancient Rome and Greece, such as 300 and Gladiator. Lastly, there are foreign projects that use their culture and history to tell a fictional story. The most recent example was the Netflix K-Drama series Bon Appétit, Your Majesty, which was inspired by the real-life Joseon dynasty ruler, Prince Yeonsan.
The Greatest Showman enters Peacock on November 1, 2025. Follow Collider to keep up to date on the latest updates.
Release Date
December 20, 2017
Runtime
1h 45m
Writers
Jenny Bicks, Michael Arndt, Bill Condon
