Featuring nine original songs written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and an original musical orchestral score composed by John Debney and Joseph Trapanese, the film is a heavily fictionalized depiction of the life of P. T. Barnum, a showman and entertainer who created the Barnum & Bailey Circus, and its star attractions.

The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the performances, music, visuals, and production values, but criticised its artistic license and overdramatic story.

[10] A stage musical adaptation is in development from the Disney Theatrical Group following their parent company's acquisition of the film and the Fox assets in 2019.

Barnum loses his shipping clerk job when the company goes bankrupt, due to a typhoon that sank all the firm's cargo vessels.

Barnum adds "freak" performers, such as bearded lady Lettie Lutz and dwarf man Charles Stratton ("Come Alive").

[23] In December 2017, it was reported that James Mangold, who had worked with Jackman on several projects (including 2017's Logan), had been brought in to serve as an executive producer during the film's post-production.

[25] The soundtrack album is produced by Justin Paul, Benj Pasek, Greg Wells, Kevin Weaver and Pete Ganbarg, featuring the eleven tracks performed by the cast.

In the United Kingdom, on March 23, 2018, it became only the second album in 30 years to achieve 11 consecutive weeks at number 1, equalling the record set by Adele's 21.

[28] On November 16, 2018, a remix album was also released, The Greatest Showman: Reimagined, which features covers of songs from the soundtrack by musicians including James Arthur, Anne-Marie, Sara Bareilles, Kelly Clarkson, Kesha, Pink, Panic!

[37] In the United Kingdom, the film was released first on digital download on April 27, 2018, while DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD copies went on sale on May 14, 2018.

[3] It is the third-highest-grossing musical ever in North America and also the third-highest globally, and Deadline Hollywood estimated the film would turn a profit of $50–100 million.

[41] In the United States and Canada, The Greatest Showman was released alongside Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, and was projected to gross around $21 million from 3,006 theaters over its first six days.

The website's critical consensus reads, "The Greatest Showman tries hard to dazzle the audience with a Barnum-style sense of wonder—but at the expense of its complex subject's far more intriguing real-life story.

"[55] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, saying, "With all that corn and cheese and old-timey sentiment, The Greatest Showman ends up scoring some very timely social arguments.

[58] Britton Peele of The Dallas Morning News said, "The story is interesting and the beats are well acted, but it's the musical numbers that make The Greatest Showman.

"[59] Jackie K. Cooper of HuffPost gave the film a score of 10/10 and wrote, "You will be overwhelmed by the music and magic that explode on the screen.

"[61] Alan Jones of the Radio Times called it "A joyously uplifting potpourri of visual resplendence, stylish choreography and solid gold magic, one engineered to approximate the lavish spectacle the movie musical once offered.

"[62] Sheila O'Malley of RogerEbert.com gave it 3.5 out of 4, stating "The Greatest Showman is an unabashed piece of pure entertainment punctuated by memorable songs.

"[66] Sean P. Means of The Salt Lake Tribune gave The Greatest Showman 3.5 out of 4, stating, "A strong cast give emotional power to this romanticized, tune-filled biography.

"[68] Pete Hammond of Deadline Hollywood gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and called it, "A fantasia of song and dance, a joyous exercise in pure entertainment that is made for the holiday crowd.

"[69] Conversely, Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle gave the film a negative review, criticizing the songs and characters and saying "There's idiotic, and there's magnificent, but The Greatest Showman is that special thing that happens sometimes.

"[70] In a negative review for The Hollywood Reporter, David Rooney wrote "This ersatz portrait of American big-top tent impresario P. T. Barnum is all smoke and mirrors, no substance.

"[71] Writing for Rolling Stone, Peter Travers gave the film 1.5 out of 4 stars, saying, "How do you cast a virtuoso Hugh Jackman as P. T. Barnum, spare no expense in production values, add a score by Oscar and Tony winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and still end up with the shrill blast of nothing that is The Greatest Showman?

"[72] Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film's failures "are rooted in something deeper: a dispiriting lack of faith in the audience's intelligence, and a dawning awareness of its own aesthetic hypocrisy.

[74] The New Yorker said that "there's a sort of poetic injustice in the fact that 'The Greatest Showman,' the new musical... based on the life of P. T. Barnum, the long-famed 'Prince of Humbug,' should be largely fabricated out of synthetic cloth".

Barnum isn't the hero the 'Greatest Showman' wants you to think", highlighting that "his path to fame and notoriety began by exploiting an enslaved woman, in life and in death, as entertainment for the masses".

[76] The Smithsonian refers to Barnum's first theatrical foray in 1835, where he exhibited an African American slave woman named Joice Heth and claimed she was one hundred and sixty-one years old, while she was actually in her seventies.

[79][80] Rhoda Roberts, arts director of the Sydney Opera House, criticized the film for failing to address that Barnum coerced and kidnapped native peoples to perform in human zoos as a form of entertainment.

The character of Jenny Lind is portrayed as a glamorous woman who becomes infatuated with Barnum and, when he doesn't respond to her overtures, quits the show.

[108] However, the sequel's future is now uncertain after Disney chose to end a distribution deal for Chernin Entertainment's films by 20th Century Fox in early 2020.