Hugh Jackman ‘Certain to Be Involved’ in Upcoming ‘Greatest Showman’ Stage Musical

Hugh Jackman has coined a staggering $20 million paycheck for his role in the highly successful Marvel film Deadpool & Wolverine, an insider exclusively tells Closer, adding that the Tony Award-winning actor is keen to invest the fortune in his Broadway career.

Last month, it was revealed at the D23 convention that Disney Theatrical Group is behind a stage adaptation of the 2017 musical film The Greatest Showman, which starred Hugh as famed showman P. T. Barnum.

While the 55-year-old actor isn’t officially tied to the upcoming stage adaptation, the source says that “it’s only because he personally hasn’t closed his deal yet.”

“Hugh is certain to be involved as a producer — and possibly a performer, as well — because he is the George Lucas of the Greatest Showman franchise,” the insider says, noting how Hugh was the driving force behind getting the film, also starring A-list actors Zac Efron, Michelle Williams and Zendaya, made.

The Greatest Showman “was something he initiated that nobody believed in, and it somehow became this massive phenomenon,” says the source.

And now the biographical musical drama could eventually hit the Great White Way. While Hugh has yet to sign on to the project in an official capacity, the Closer source says the Music Man star “is very interested in mounting” productions on Broadway.

In fact, adds the insider, it was something he and his ex-wife, Deborra-Lee Furness, “were getting more and more involved with before their marriage ended” when they announced their separation in September 2023.

“You could definitely see him and Deb in competition as Broadway producers at some point because she is still in love with that world and has deep contacts there, too — and deep pockets after the divorce,” says the source.

“The good news is that Hugh’s Deadpool & Wolverine windfall will be massive because he gets a profit participation in addition to his eight-figure, up-front salary,” adds the insider. “And the movie has performed better than any movie in the history of the X-Men franchise.”

The Boy From Oz star and the Australian actress and producer, 68, first met on the set of the Australian TV show Correlli in 1995, years before Hugh became an international movie star.

They married after less than a year of dating on April 11, 1996, and adopted two children together: son Oscar, born in 2000, and daughter Ava, born in 2005. However, after nearly 27 years of marriage, they announced that they were ending their relationship.

A separate source told Closer in July that Hugh’s career aspirations could sometimes get in the way of the couple’s longtime love.

“The No. 1 problem Hugh and Deb had during their decades together is that Hugh’s career and his ambitions always became the center of their life together, even when they were doing everything in their power to keep that from being the case,” detailed a longtime Hollywood pal.

Their life in the spotlight “just became unavoidable,” the source added, “because of the success Hugh kept having and the incredible effort and work ethic he would bring into anything he took on.”