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| The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again | |
| Last Edit: mikem 03:40 pm EST 02/10/18 | |
| Posted by: mikem 03:39 pm EST 02/10/18 | |
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| The Greatest Showman is spending its 8th consecutive weekend in the Top 5 at the box office this weekend. It is one of only 6 movies in the past 5 years to do so. (Frozen has the record in that time frame, with 11 consecutive weekends in the Top 5.) What's really interesting is that it's such a slow and steady performer. Its box office rank each weekend has been 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 4, 4, 5. So never a breakout smash, but outlasting a lot of other movies with splashier debuts. |
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| re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again | |
| Posted by: robert_j 10:25 am EST 02/11/18 | |
| In reply to: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again - mikem 03:39 pm EST 02/10/18 | |
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| When I saw the movie, my wife and I were sitting next to a group of about a half-dozen teenage girls who were singing along through the whole thing. They knew every word of the score. It was annoying, as you might imagine, but it also strangely enhanced my enjoyment of the film because I could see who the film was connecting with. My teenage self might have liked it too. I think, for me, what I kept coming back to was how shallow and ahistorical the whole thing was. Shows like "Spring Awakening" and "Hamilton" are period pieces with contemporary scores, but the idea is to evoke the same authentic feelings and emotions that people in that time and in that situation would have felt. Probably the closest the movie comes to that is when Jenny Lind gives her first performance because it illustrates what her audience was hearing and what a sensation she caused. My problem with the Greatest Showman is that it presents the circus in general, and P.T. Barnum in particular, as a progressive community that provides a safe space for people and celebrates their differences. But isn't the real legacy of circuses the exploitation of people (and animals) for profit? The fact that the movie does nothing to problematize Barnum feels irresponsible, glorifying a person who does not deserve it. |
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| re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again | |
| Last Edit: WaymanWong 12:34 am EST 02/12/18 | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 12:26 am EST 02/12/18 | |
| In reply to: re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again - robert_j 10:25 am EST 02/11/18 | |
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| ''Isn't the real legacy of circuses the exploitation of people (and animals) for profit?'' This was one of my biggest problems with ''The Greatest Showman'': presenting Barnum as some progressive hero who championed people's differences and their humanity. In reality, he was a huckster who exploited people with deformities and human oddities. His first big success was Joyce Heth, a paralyzed, old black slave, whom he exhibited as George Washington's 161-year-old childhood nurse. After she died a year later, Barnum sold tickets to Heth's public autopsy. When the overseeing doctor announced Heth's age claim was a fraud, Barnum insisted the autopsy victim wasn't really Heth; he claimed Heth was still alive, on tour in Europe. Barnum later admitted to the hoax. Heth put Barnum on the map, but she is curiously missing from ''The Greatest Showman.'' Gee, I wonder why. Even the 1980 Broadway musical of ''Barnum,'' by Cy Coleman and Michael Stewart, includes her. Look, ''The Greatest Showman'' is a musical, not a documentary, but these lapses whitewash who Barnum really was. ''The Greatest Showman's'' portrayal of Barnum is inconsistent even within its own movie. (Spoilers ahead!) The movie wants you to buy that he was a fearless champion of his ''circus freaks.'' But at the high-society party for Florence Nightingale, Barnum literally slams the door in the face of Lettie, Tom Thumb, the Siamese Twins, etc. He's ashamed to have them mingle together with his tony friends. It's at this point, Lettie and her company lets loose with her defiant (and anachronistic) anthem, ''This Is Me.'' Barnum has cowardly betrayed them, but there is never any ramification or later dramatic payoff. Barnum never tries to explain himself, let alone apologize, to his human oddities. And he's their fearless champion? PUH-leeze! |
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| re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again | |
| Posted by: TheOtherOne 08:35 am EST 02/12/18 | |
| In reply to: re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again - WaymanWong 12:26 am EST 02/12/18 | |
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| Anyone else get a laugh out of the moment when Barnum tells his daughters that they have grown, or that they are getting so big? Something to that effect. It made me laugh because in spite of the fact that the film covers enough time for Barnum to develop his circus, see it become enormously successful, go on tour with Jenny Lind, see his circus burn down and bequeath his legacy to his associate so he could go back to his family, the girls never seem to grow at all. | |
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| More about Barnum, showbiz and the Bard | |
| Last Edit: WaymanWong 11:58 am EST 02/12/18 | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 11:50 am EST 02/12/18 | |
| In reply to: re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again - TheOtherOne 08:35 am EST 02/12/18 | |
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| The fact that Barnum's 2 girls never age (in real life, he had 4 girls) is just one minor example of the movie's out-of-whack timeline. In real life, Barnum got his first museum at 31, and he didn't go into the circus business until he was 60. As a musical, I far prefer Cy Coleman and Michael Stewart's tuneful ''Barnum,'' which presents a more varied portrait: He also ran a clock company, tried to build a town, and ran for public office (serving 4 terms in the Connecticut legislature and was mayor of Bridgeport, Conn.). Barnum's real life had a lot of theatrical ties. He produced black minstrel shows, as well as a watered-down version on ''Uncle Tom's Cabin,'' with a happy ending where Tom and the other slaves are freed. He started the country's first theatrical matinees to encourage more families to attend. And he presented Shakespearean plays and even tried to buy the English home that the Bard was born in. He wanted to move it and re-erect it in New York. When rumors of his plan became public, it made the locals realize the significance of losing such a landmark and the need to preserve it. Barnum says his plans were thwarted by some ''interfering Englishmen'' who included some guy named ... Charles Dickens. |
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| Could some of this be from Dear Evan Hansen fans? | |
| Last Edit: Ann 12:30 pm EST 02/11/18 | |
| Posted by: Ann 12:27 pm EST 02/11/18 | |
| In reply to: re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again - robert_j 10:25 am EST 02/11/18 | |
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| It's a big crowd, and they put the cast recording at the top of the chart. Apologies if too obvious and already mentioned. |
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| Anecdotally, I belong to a largish Broadway fan group on FB w/a lot pf DEH fans in the mix & they certainly seem to be obsessed with the film | |
| Posted by: Esther 10:02 am EST 02/12/18 | |
| In reply to: Could some of this be from Dear Evan Hansen fans? - Ann 12:27 pm EST 02/11/18 | |
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| and many cop to seeing it multiple times. I work with a 60 year old woman who has seen it 3 times already. She's never seen DEH. |
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| re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again | |
| Posted by: KingSpeed 06:38 pm EST 02/10/18 | |
| In reply to: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again - mikem 03:39 pm EST 02/10/18 | |
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| It's the music. People like the music. | |
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| re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 07:19 pm EST 02/10/18 | |
| In reply to: re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again - KingSpeed 06:38 pm EST 02/10/18 | |
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| And the message. And the story. And the performances. And the dancing. And the movie as a whole. Not sure who you're talking to or reading that you can reduce its appeal to just the music, but if that was all people cared about, they would just stream it and not keep going back to see it again and again. |
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| re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again | |
| Posted by: MarjorieMae 09:45 pm EST 02/10/18 | |
| In reply to: re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again - Singapore/Fling 07:19 pm EST 02/10/18 | |
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| I would say it has more to do with the film starring two hunks. | |
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| re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again | |
| Last Edit: royscho 02:08 am EST 02/11/18 | |
| Posted by: royscho 01:59 am EST 02/11/18 | |
| In reply to: re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again - MarjorieMae 09:45 pm EST 02/10/18 | |
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| As opposed to the rest of the films in cinema history that have ugly-looking people in starring roles? If the stars are the reason the movie is succeeding, it would open big (which it didn’t.) The only thing that explains the amazing hold in BO is that people are responding to the movie. I don’t know if it’s the music or performance or message, but this *is* word of mouth - it keeps playing strong because people like what they were seeing. It’s not star power or marketing - those can only help your movie open big/bigger. |
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| re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again (spoiler alert, maybe) | |
| Posted by: waterfall 09:36 pm EST 02/10/18 | |
| In reply to: re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again - Singapore/Fling 07:19 pm EST 02/10/18 | |
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| "And the message. And the story. And the performances. And the dancing. And the movie as a whole." Bingo! I couldn't hum a song from the show upon threat of death. Not fond of the musical style, personally, but it suited the movie well enough. As far as the message goes, well, the real Barnum almost certainly took advantage of his freaks rather than uplifting them, but he also was never a ringmaster, to my knowledge, and was a rather dumpy-looking man who (SPOILER ALERT!) Jenny Lind never set lips on (END SPOILER ALERT!) I cast all that aside and went along for the ride. I quite enjoyed it. It's a feel-good, fun to watch, flashly little flick, full of smoke and mirrors, sprinkled wirh glitter and sequins, tied up with a happy ending bow. What's not to like? |
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| I was sitting behind Ina Garten and Jeffrey at the theatre and she said the same thing... | |
| Posted by: Jax 02:34 pm EST 02/11/18 | |
| In reply to: re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again (spoiler alert, maybe) - waterfall 09:36 pm EST 02/10/18 | |
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| "What's not to like?" Seriously, no matter what you think of the film (I was less impressed with it than one of Ina's cupcakes), its' enormous success (yes, it's getting to that point, enormous) bodes well for the original musical in Hollywood where things always run in cycles. It should be easier to get real life (not animated), original projects off the ground now for a couple of years. IF they have scores by hot young composing teams. So there's some icing on this cupcake, even if you hated the movie. How easy is that? |
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| re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again (spoiler alert, maybe) | |
| Last Edit: WaymanWong 01:42 pm EST 02/11/18 | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 01:39 pm EST 02/11/18 | |
| In reply to: re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again (spoiler alert, maybe) - waterfall 09:36 pm EST 02/10/18 | |
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| ''What's not to like?'' Pretty much all that stuff you cast aside: the whitewashing of Barnum's character and history, etc. Which is why critics largely panned it (55% at Rotten Tomatoes). But audiences don't care if it's fake or fictionalized. And that's something Barnum knew: how to sell a show. Or as he was often misattributed as saying, ''There's ... |
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| re: "the whitewashing of Barnum's character and history, etc." | |
| Posted by: waterfall 04:10 pm EST 02/11/18 | |
| In reply to: re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again (spoiler alert, maybe) - WaymanWong 01:39 pm EST 02/11/18 | |
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| I respect your distaste for the historical, actual man, but I don't look for history in my entertainment, and I hardly view this movie as a tribute to what a great man Barnum was. I look at this the same way as I look at Titanic - a popular movie using an historical background to tell a story that had little to do with reality. They probably could just as easily done it without Barnum's name, but they, like Barnum, were savvy, and know how to sell a show. Barnum and Bailey is out of business, forever. I don't have any issue about someone making money off his name and using it to convey (however cynically) another message |
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| re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again (spoiler alert, maybe) | |
| Posted by: KingSpeed 10:35 pm EST 02/10/18 | |
| In reply to: re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again (spoiler alert, maybe) - waterfall 09:36 pm EST 02/10/18 | |
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| The music has struck a chord with the masses and that's why people are returning. | |
| Link | It's the music |
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| re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again (spoiler alert, maybe) | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 01:25 am EST 02/11/18 | |
| In reply to: re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again (spoiler alert, maybe) - KingSpeed 10:35 pm EST 02/10/18 | |
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| Just because you say something doesn't make it true. And the link you offer doesn't back up your claim either - it simply tells us that the soundtrack is successful. The question is why they movie is doing so well. Yes, the music is a part of that, but it's surely not the only reason, and you'd have to offer some real evidence to support the claim that it is. I know from people that I know who have gone to see the film numerous times that they're going for more than just the songs. |
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| re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again (spoiler alert, maybe) | |
| Posted by: TheOtherOne 11:30 pm EST 02/10/18 | |
| In reply to: re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again (spoiler alert, maybe) - KingSpeed 10:35 pm EST 02/10/18 | |
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| "This Is Me" and "Rewrite the Stars" are great songs. I didn't care much for the rest of the score. The film's overall family musical vibe seems to me to be what is pulling in the crowds. | |
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| re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again (spoiler alert, maybe) | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 01:28 am EST 02/11/18 | |
| In reply to: re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again (spoiler alert, maybe) - TheOtherOne 11:30 pm EST 02/10/18 | |
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| Oh yeah, all the kids in the front few rows of my theater loved it. Crazy loved it. | |
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