Michael Gracey Biography

Born in Melbourne, Australia, director Michael Gracey began his career in visual effects and music videos.

From 1994 to 1996, Michael worked at an animation and visual effects studio called Animal Logic. After he left the company he met director Baz Luhrmann, who invited him to work on Moulin Rouge! (2001). His career in VFX include work on films such as Double Vision (2002), Ned Kelly (2003) with Heath Ledger and Orlando Bloom, and The Magician (2005).

When he transitioned into directing commercials and music videos, Michael found his calling. He worked on spots for Evian water, Cillit Bang, and T-Mobile. On the music side he directed videos for Sugababes, Natasha Bedingfield, Alesha Dixon and P!nk.

Michael made his feature directorial debut with The Greatest Showman (2017) starring Hugh Jackman as P.T. Barnum. The film was a huge hit and grossed $469 million at the worldwide box office.

In 2021, Michael directed the documentary P!nk: All I Know So Far, which focused on the American singer-song writer P!nk, whom he had worked with before on her song “Walk Me Home.”

In 2024, he directed the Robbie Williams musical biopic Better Man, which portrayed Williams a CGI chimpanzee. Despite its wild premise, the film received praise from critics, with Michael firmly establishing himself as a go-to director for movie musicals.

The film included a dance sequence set on the popular Regent Street in London. Michael says it took a year and half of planning and only four nights to shoot. The number required a complete shutdown of the street. which required a lot of negotiating and on the last day of rehearsal, Queen Elizabeth died, which put a halt on the number, though they eventually were able to shoot.

Unfortunately, even with the popular critical reception, the film did not perform well at the box office.

The director is next set to helm the latest upcoming live action adaptation from Disney with Tangled.

Filmography:

Better Man (2024)
P!nk: All I Know So Far (2021)
The Greatest Showman (2017)