Failed Oscar Campaigns: "The Greatest Showman" (2017)

Scene from The Greatest Showman

As awards seasons pick up, so do the campaigns to make your film have the best chances at the Best Picture race. However, like a drunken stupor, sometimes these efforts come off as trying too hard and leave behind a trailer of ridiculous flamboyance. Join me on every other Saturday for a highlight of the failed campaigns that make this season as much about prestige as it does about train wrecks. Come for the Harvey Weinstein comments and stay for the history. It's going to be a fun time as I explore cinema's rich history of attempting to matter.

The Movie

The Greatest Showman (2017)

Directed By: Michael Gracey

Written By: Jenny Bicks & Bill Condon (Screenplay), Jenny Bicks (Story)

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, Zac Efron

Genre: Biography, Drama, Musical
Running Time 105 minutes

Summary: Celebrates the birth of show business and tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation.

The Movie

Depending on who you are, there's a good chance that The Greatest Showman has not disappeared from the cultural zeitgeist since sometime in the Fall 2017. In fact, its awards run is still going, as it is currently up for two Grammy  nominations next month and hasn't left the Billboard chart's Top 5 in almost an entire year (it also holds the record for most nonconsecutive weeks atop the charts) and was the best selling album of any kind in 2018. It's true that this is all a component of the music, but it does raise a better question: how did this film become such a phenomenon? As it stands, there's current work on a Broadway production in large part inspired by its rabid fan base. That doesn't just happen for any film musical not released by Disney. There has to be a bigger reason.

Some could argue that it's the attraction that comes from Hugh Jackman in his first post-X-Men role. It could be that the songs are just that good. Whatever the case may be, it's one of the few films that will ever be covered by Failed Oscar Campaigns to have some origins from the actual Oscars. According to Jackman in later interviews, the film started as an idea following him hosting the Academy Awards in 2009. The producers wanted to work with him, and so came the idea to make a musical based around P.T. Barnum, a showman whose profession was going to be in the news for some time due to the Barnum & Bailey Circus getting complaints about ethical treatment of animals that would lead to their demise. It made the situation all the stranger, as one would have to wonder what the appeal was to make a musical about an irrelevant profession that nobody cared about.

Despite all odds, The Greatest Showman became the biggest phenomenon of 2017 that wasn't based on a comic book character or Disney property. There were enough fans to continually make it one of the most popular films of the year. This all came after mediocre reviews and a dismal box office debut that spelled death for the film. Instead, it has probably lasted a whole lot longer in the public's mind than any film that out-grossed it. What has made a film about a circus and a figure who can be easily seen by modern sensibilities as problematic so popular? It's tough to say, but it did make for one of the more interesting campaigns of the year, in large part because it could've been a definitive contender for Best Popular Film had the category existed. Instead, it's a strange anomaly that won't go away, for better or worse.

The Campaign

Things began simple enough with the trailer, promising a new musical from the songwriters of La La Land, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Considering the film's Oscar-winning success, the promise of another highly praised musical seemed imminent, especially as Pasek and Paul were coming off of a year where they won a Grammy, Oscar, and Tony for various projects (including the Broadway production of Dear Evan Hansen). Along with Jackman in his first role since announcing his retirement from X-Men movies, the film already had a lot of steam going for it. By some irony, there was even a live performance that was performed during A Christmas Story Live, which was adapted again from a Pasek and Paul production. In an era when movie musicals weren't popular, The Greatest Showman looked like this big and boisterous injecting for the holiday season. Those families wanting to just kick back and enjoy spectacle would have a great show with upbeat music. At least, that's how it was marketed. 

The box office debut was considered abysmal. It would open with $13.4 million, which by all accounts would've made it a failure had the film's total dwindled like most films, especially with an $84 million budget. The reviews weren't much better, with the current score on Rotten Tomatoes being 55%. However, the audience score would suggest differently, as it had an 87% that would lead to an impressive word of mouth. The film's final gross would be $434 million internationally. It would gross $175 million in America, which was 20 times its opening gross domestically. Fans flocked to the soundtrack, making covers on YouTube that would generate interest from Jackman, who shared his gratitude with them. Meanwhile, Kaela Settle became a breakout star from the film with many praising her performance of "This is Me," which was clearly becoming the standout song from the film.

As the marketing would suggest, the film was a big success because of how good it made everyone feel. The upbeat music was one piece, but the fact that audiences kept coming to the film and embracing its story of respecting others despite their differences was seen as a great counterpoint to modern politics, which were seen as hostile and exclusive. This would lead to major success especially for the soundtrack, which would top the charts following its release and become the best selling album in multiple countries for the year to come - in America, it was the only one to total over a million copies sold. In the world of streaming, the soundtrack experienced over one billion streams, including 160 million just for "This is Me." This lead to a 2018 rerelease of a sing-along version as well as promise of a "Reimagined" covers album featuring artists like Panic at the Disco and Kesha singing the popular tunes. Before 2018 was out, the film would even have an announced plan to move to Broadway. While a lot of this falls outside of the Oscar campaign time frame, it is helpful to understand just how much of a juggernaut the film remains in context to its awards potential.

On the flip side of things, many took time away from the musical to explore something a little harder to accept: the truth. In a time where culture is trying to me more accepting of differences, the figure of P.T. Barnum is a lot more complicated than what the film portrayed. The Greatest Showman was accused of flubbing things to make a narrative that felt good but wasn't the least bit true. Historians would be quick to note that Barnum was an exploitative figure, using his "freaks" more as sideshow fodder than an embrace of how great being different was. The stories range from typical scam artist to downright despicable, and it's best not to explore if the idea of enjoying The Greatest Showman and sympathizing with Barnum's personal life is something you care about. Still, it's evidence of just how complicated the figure was - though it didn't exactly sabotage the film's appeal with audiences, who mostly enjoyed the soundtrack regardless.

Among the lesser highlights of its awards campaign was the news that it was one of the rare movies that the American President publicly saw (though his opinion remains largely unknown). However, the steam behind "This is Me" would lead it to a Golden Globe win for Best Original Song, which helped many believe that the song could carry the film where its other aspects were not getting recognized. There was only one major competitors standing in the way: Pixar's Coco, whose song "Remember Me" was getting credit for being an emotional roller coaster. It would become a fight between these two films, though Coco arguably hasn't had nearly as strong of a hold on the zeitgeist in the 13 months since its release as The Greatest Showman had, and it also wasn't as big of a surprise hit. If nothing else, Jackman's hold on the public's interest was maybe enough to suggest that it won.

The Payoff

As predicted, the success of The Greatest Showman at the Oscars came down to one category. In spite of the campaign for Jackman under the guise that this was an almost decades-long passion project, the film had to settle for a Best Original Song nomination. However, there was one group that missed the memo. CNN reported not only that The Greatest Showman was a Best Picture nominee, but also the A24 film The Disaster Artist. Apologies were quickly rushed out. Still, it would result in a heated race between P.T. Barnum and Coco, the latter of whom was prominent in conversation among fans, with many suggesting that if it lost, they would boycott the Oscars forever. 

While it would be enough to perform at the Oscars, The Greatest Showman's Settle almost had a bigger setback happen during rehearsals. It is said that she lost motor functions in half of her body and was rushed to the hospital. She was diagnosed with a rare cerebrovascular disorder known as Moyamoya disease, leading to a 10 hour double-bypass brain surgery. It was suggested that this was caused by being overworked in touring and promoting the movie, which also came after a long string of illnesses including food poisoning and dehydration. While it forced her to readjust her schedule, she still managed to perform with her co-stars onstage during the ceremony. "This is Me" would lost to "Remember Me," which resulted in Coco song composer Robert Lopez becoming the first ever Double EGOT winner. 

Despite not quite making it all the way to glory, The Greatest Showman has continued to have an impact on fans worldwide. Love it or hate it, it's a cultural phenomenon that proves the necessity of musicals in the modern age, and makes the market all the more open. It's likely one of the reasons that Disney felt so comfortable making Mary Poppins Returns a holiday release. While some could argue that other films, like La La Land, jump-started this trend, The Greatest Showman showed how you could defy the odds and win over audiences the old fashioned way. For all of its faults and negative reviews, it was a film with an unnatural sustainability. There's a good chance it will be around for a few more years in some form, so get used to hearing the songs everywhere you go.