The original musical follows the life of Barnum, played by Hugh Jackman, as he creates what we’ve come to know and love as the circus.
American actress Michelle Williams, 37, plays his childhood sweetheart and wife Charity.
After losing his job as a clerk at a shipping company, Barnum takes a risk and sets up a curiosity museum.
His search for living attractions leads him to discover the first stars of Barnum’s American Museum – The Bearded Lady, General Tom Thumb and Captain George Costentenus, Prince of Constantine in the film.
Singer Keala Settle, 42, plays the Bearded Lady and performs the Oscar-nominated track This Is Me in the film.
Mission Impossible star Rebecca Ferguson plays Jenny Lind, an opera singer known as the Swedish Nightingale.
Audiences will be surprised to discover the character’s singing voice in the film is not her own but that of Loren Allred, who appeared in series three of The Voice.
Look through the gallery to compare the cast and historic photographs of the real-life people who inspired the film.
The gallery compares Michelle Williams and Charity Barnum; Rebecca Ferguson and Jenny Lind; Keala Settle and the Bearded Lady; and Sam Humphrey and Charles Sherwood Stratton also known as General Tom Thumb.