James Mangold stepped in to help with reshoots on The Greatest Showman

After Twentieth Century Fox became concerned that Michael Gracey was feeling overwhelmed with the scope of THE GREATEST SHOWMAN, the studio enlisted the help of James Mangold (LOGAN) to assist the first-time feature director. Per Variety, Mangold was brought in to help oversee a week of reshoots on the film last fall, and also ended up pitching in during the post-production process as well.

Variety's sources deny that Michael Gracey lost control of THE GREATEST SHOWMAN at any point, adding that he directed all of the principal photography and reshoots and that James Mangold’s extensive input was more in an advisory capacity. The LOGAN director helped to edit the film and received an executive producer credit as well as a seven-figure salary for his contribution. As he's not a stranger to musical numbers (WALK THE LINE) and has worked with Hugh Jackman on three films (KATE & LEOPOLD, THE WOLVERINE, and LOGAN), James Mangold certainly seems like a fitting choice to assist with THE GREATEST SHOWMAN. Variety adds that after the reshoots were incorporated back into the film, the testing scores improved. Centering around P.T. Barnum, THE GREATEST SHOWMAN charts his rise from "poverty-stricken childhood to the launch of his first circus in New York," all with plenty of song and dance numbers sprinkled throughout.

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN is now playing in theaters, so be sure to check out a review from our own Eric Walkuski!