While Disney Plus still has a lot of catching up to do on its rivals, it can easily boast one of the strongest collections of corporate-owned content on the streaming market. One of the biggest films of the last few years, and a beloved Hugh Jackman project to boot, is finding a lot of love today on the service. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s the well-established favorite The Greatest Showman, which arrived on D+ on August 14th on the back of significant anticipation and is currently the ninth most-watched film on the platform.
The arrival of The Greatest Showman on the Disney streamer is notable for it being the first time that the movie has been made available as part of an existing subscription, rather than as a rental or purchase. For those that aren’t aware, Showman focuses on Jackman’s P.T. Barnum and his American Museum in the 19th century. Director Michael Gracey keeps the energy flowing, while the likes of Michelle Williams, Zac Efron, and Zendaya round out a strong cast.
Despite not being to everyone’s taste, The Greatest Showman does have several excellent and ear-worm-worthy songs, while Jackman’s performance makes it hard not to warm to the theatrics on show. The production ended up generating around $435 million worldwide on a budget of $84 million, making it one of the highest-grossing musicals of all time.
Fans have been able to catch Showman as a digital download since March 2018, and on various formats later that year. It now seems, then, that people are enjoying a rewatch of the picture on D+, or catching it for the first time after considerable word-of-mouth. Although the novelty factor may have worn off a bit after several years of availability, the Mouse House can add the musical to the recent success of Hamilton in drawing in new subscribers and retaining ones who may be starting to struggle to find things to watch.
With Mulan soon to join the Disney platform as a PVOD experiment, the company will likely be hoping that exclusive premieres and the draw of recent hits such as The Greatest Showman are enough to keep viewers happy as we head into the fall season.
