Zac Efron has been a matinee idol for a long time. He’s been in good movies (“Hairspray”) and bad (“Baywatch”). Really bad.
And now Zac Efron is a pop star. As a member of the cast of “The Greatest Showman” starring Hugh Jackman, Efron has a large role. But his most important part in that movie is as a..singer.
For some reason, the soundtrack to “The Greatest Showman” is a massive hit. It was number 1 all through the holidays and continues to be right now. The soundtrack’s popularity is spurred by a track on the album called “Rewrite the Stars” with Zendaya.
So far the album has sold roughly 150,000 copies over two weeks. The movie, meantime, has made $60,721,000, which is ok but not great. “The Greatest Showman” should do around $80 million, which is also alright but not a blockbuster.
What’s making the soundtrack soar? First of all, “Rewrite the Stars” is a hit on iTunes on Spotify. Radio play is still elusive, but that doesn’t matter. “Rewrite” is written by Oscar and Tony winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who’ve already had an amazing year with “La La Land” and “Dear Evan Hansen.”
“The Greatest Showman” CD also boasts SEVEN other individual tracks on the iTunes Top 100 besides “Rewrite.” It’s a phenomenon of some kind. PT Barnum would be proud.
