20 best movie musicals of the 21st century

The 2007 Hairspray has everything a movie musical should have: great music, stellar costumes, and an outstanding cast. It’s loads of fun while still being meaningful, and it has Zac Efron. Rewatching this film will never get old. 

Moulin Rouge! deserves the exclamation point at the end. It’s so glamorous and over-the-top, but in the best way, and its pomp and frill served as a great way to begin the millennium for movie musicals. And underneath it all is a truly devastating love story. 

If there’s an exclamation point at the end of a movie musical title, it’s almost certainly going to be good. Mamma Mia! is another absolute ball of a movie musical. Set in Greece, using the music of ABBA, and starring Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Amanda Seyfried, Colin Firth, and Christine Baranski? How could it have been bad? 

Whether on stage or screen, any version of Les Misérables is worth seeing. The 2012 film had an all-star cast, and everything was sung live on set. It might have caused permanent damage to their vocal cords, but it was worth it for movie musical fans. 

Many have tried to play Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly, but few have ever done it, as well as Renée Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones, respectively. The two actresses were born to play those roles. Add Richard Gere, Taye Diggs, and a handful of other stars and you’ve got yourself a near-perfect movie musical. 

Andrew Lloyd Weber’s The Phantom of the Opera is arguably the best musical of all time, and anyone who’s a fan of musicals needs to see it at least once. The 2004 film version was by no means the greatest film of all time, but it made the story accessible to more people, and that’s important. 

All movie musicals should use as much of the cast from the original stage run, if appropriate. That’s part of what made Rent so successful. Obviously, those actors all know how to sing, and some say that’s important in a musical. 

When Eddie Murphy began his career, did anyone imagine that he’d one day receive an Oscar nomination for his work in a movie musical? Probably not. But he was spectacular in the film, as were Jennifer Hudson (who won an Oscar for her performance), Jamie Foxx, and Beyoncé. 

It’s still wild that a Disney Channel made-for-TV movie started such a cultural phenomenon. And it might be even crazier that Zac Efron is in so many entries on this list. 

Dark, disturbing, enchanting, and Johnny Depp: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is the ultimate macabre movie musical. Just don’t eat while you’re watching it, and try not to think about the premise too much. 

Christina Aguilera might not have been an obvious choice for Burlesque, given her lack of acting experience before the film, but she more than made up for it with her vocals. This film is underappreciated, but it’s got some of the best original music of all the 21st-century movie musicals. 

For as good as La La Land was on screen, imagine how good it’ll be on stage. That choreography is meant to be seen live. We also owe La La Land a debt of gratitude for providing pop culture enthusiasts with one of the most memorable Oscar moments in recent history. 

Another Zac Efron film! The Greatest Showman has great music, great costumes, great sets, and a great cast. It tells a great story. It’s all-around great. 

There’s a reason filmmakers keep remaking A Star is Born , and there’s a reason the version starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper is the most memorable (and it’s not a recency bias). The world collectively had “Shallow” stuck in its head for a year after this film came out. 

Bohemian Rhapsody is the highest-grossing original live-action movie musical of all time. It made nearly one billion at the box office because everyone wanted to see the story of the incomparable Freddie Mercury and Queen, and everyone who saw it told everyone else how good it was.  

Netflix originals aren’t always good, but they got it right with Tick, Tick… Boom! A meta-musical, this film tells the story of Jonathan Larson, the composer who died far too soon but wrote the classic Rent while still alive. Andrew Garfield plays Larson and gives one of his best career performances. 

It’s risky to remake a film as beloved and well done as the original West Side Story , but Steven Spielberg did it justice. He maintained the story’s tone while making a few slight changes that modernized it without sacrificing its integrity. This is an absolute masterclass in movie musicals and remakes. 

Hamilton is so good that a recording of a stage performance warrants a spot on this list. Granted, said recording is of the original cast, but still. The musical is beyond iconic, and everyone who likes musicals should watch the recording. 

Thanks to its multiple sequels, Pitch Perfect was all anyone could talk about for about a decade. But the original still remains the best of them all. Genuinely good music (even for a cappella) and genuinely good comedy. 

Why aren’t Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey starring in more musicals? Or, at the very least, more romantic comedies? Or just more movies together? The world would heal with those two on screen together more often.