Not to be confused with The Greatest Show on Earth, which Columbia is making, Hugh Jackman is planning a musical about the life of P.T. Barnum, called The Greatest Showman On Earth*, with Fox. And he wants his Oscar duet-partner Anne Hathaway to star in it with him.
Yes, you wait ages for a biopic of the great American circus entrepreneur, and then two come along at once - and one's got tunes by the team behind this year's Oscars: not just Jackman, but his producing partner John Palermo, Oscars producer Laurence Mark and Sex and the City's Jenny Bicks, who was part of the writing team and will be writing this script. The group reportedly want pop singer Mika to help with the music.
This version of Barnum's tale will focus on his career duping a gullible public and creating his famous three-ring circus, but will also look at his obsession with singer Jenny Lind, nicknamed the Swedish Nightingale (a position now filled by him from A-Ha). Jackman wants Anne Hathaway to play Lind - as well as apparently pursuing her to star with him in the Carousel remake he's also planning. Our sources tell us that the women of the world are torn between shrieking at Hathaway to go for it, and fighting the urge to kidnap her and take her place and hope no-one notices.
There's no word yet on a start date or director for this, but we'll keep our ears open for the first sound of vocal exercises from over Hollywood way.
*Let's count down the minutes until one of these films changes its title.