Michael Gracey to Direct 'The Greatest Showman on Earth'

12:57 PM PDT 8/17/2011 by Pamela McClintock, Borys Kit

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Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic

The Fox biopic will star Hugh Jackman as circus showman P.T. Barnum.

Commercials director and visual effects wizard Michael Gracey is lining up another studio job: 20th Century Fox’s contemporary musical The Greatest Showman on Earth, starring Hugh Jackman as P.T. Barnum.

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Gracey is set to direct the biopic, about the legendary showman who created the three-ring circus, and loved to hoax a gullible public. A focal point of the movie is Barnum’s infatuation with opera singer Jenny Lind, called the Swedish Nightingale. So far, no actress has been cast for the role.

Greatest Showman was penned by Jenny Bicks (Sex and the City). Jackman and producing partner John Palermo are producing with Laurence Mark (Dreamgirls).

In recent weeks, Gracey’s feature career has been rising like a thermometer in the summertime: In early August, he was chosen to helm Disney’s live-action pic The Order of the Seven.

Gracey is repped by CAA, Partizan and Hirsch Wallerstein.