"King's Speech" director to take on "Les Miserables"

[CaptainCanada]

Reviving this thread, apparently Hooper is indeed going after Hugh Jackman to play Valjean. I thought of him more as Javert, but he'd be good in that role too.

[Caliburn24]

Deadline is reporting that Paul Bettany is in talks to play Javert.

http://www.deadline.com/2011/06/if-h...es-miserables/

[CaptainCanada]

Bettany turned down the role of King George VI in The King's Speech, so perhaps he's reconsidered working with Hooper in light of subsequent developments.

[Kestrel]

I've never heard Bettany sing and can't find any YouTube of it, but he could certainly pull off the sinister nature of Javert. And Jackman as Valjean is definitely a plus as well (even if he's not Colm Wilkinson ). If Javert and Valjean are good, that's a huge part of making this thing work.

I think Eponine might actually be the third most important role when it comes to pop-cultural awareness, yeah? Lea Michelle's big enough now from Glee and she's done Eponine before, so that should be a pretty natural decision I'd think.

On a humorous note, if anybody here is fans of the Channel Awesome crew - Nostalgia Critic, Linkara, Spoony, etc. - the Nostalgia Chick just recently did a review of the Les Mis musical where several of them break into "One Day More" at the end. And considering they're a bunch of random internet reviewers, they do a decent job at it.

[CaptainCanada]

I mentioned Michele earlier, though I'm not sure whether she could fit this into her Glee filming schedule (Rachel could be sequestered with tuberculosis for a few episodes, maybe, though I'm not sure the producers would be keen on giving her up for that long, even if the cast is huge).

She turned down the role of Eponine on Broadway to do Spring Awakening, so if they did get her for the film it'd be kind of funny.

[Kestrel]

Far as I'm concerned, Glee can jump off a bridge if it interferes with Les Mis. And I can't really imagine the Glee crew passing up the opportunity to raise her star higher.

She did do the role in a 2008 concert at the Hollywood Bowl, and you can find (not very good) videos of it on YT.

This might be the best I found:

[CaptainCanada]

Kestrel wrote:

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And I can't really imagine the Glee crew passing up the opportunity to raise her star higher.

If she's graduating at the end of next season, her star will be of little concern to them (though I'm not convinced that franchise is really done with Lea or a bunch of the others).

They accomodated her doing New Year's Eve earlier this season (why, Lea, why?), but that was only a few days' work and didn't entail missing any episodes. This would be a much bigger commitment.

In other casting speculations, after Daniel Radcliffe's success with How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, he might be a good choice for one of the younger male parts.

[Kestrel]

I'm thinking cross-promotion/using her casting as Eponine to boost Glee (not that it really needs more, I suppose). Fair point though.

Radcliffe as Marius? My first reaction is he's too young, but he's 21 now and only 3 years younger than Michele, soo... that could work, assuming he can sing. I doubt he could pull off Enjolras, but maybe. I still like Barrowman as Enjolras. Definitely too old for Gavroche.

Though that would make Anne Hathaway too old for Cosette I suppose? I dunno, maybe not (not IMO, but next to Radcliffe, perhaps). If so maybe her as Fantine? Though a bit young for Fantine maybe

[CaptainCanada]

Kestrel wrote:

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Radcliffe as Marius? My first reaction is he's too young, but he's 21 now and only 3 years younger than Michele, soo... that could work, assuming he can sing.

He did Brotherhood of Man at the Tonys a few days ago, and I thought he sounded pretty good (with bonus American accent). Actually, I thought his dancing was more impressive, but Les Miserables isn't really a dance musical.

Isn't Barrowman a little old for Enjolras? He's supposed to be a young student.

[Kestrel]

Yeah, I guess you're right. Shame, but oh well. Thenardier would be a possibility.

I'm guessing they'll have to cut it down a bit to make a regular feature-length film. Perhaps eliminate Gavroche entirely? I love the kid, but his part would be the easiest to eliminate I think.

[CaptainCanada]

In terms of numbers to cut, there are a few redundant songs here and there (the Friends of the ABC, for instance, I expect will have a significantly reduced presence). The epilogue, too, probably could stand some trimming (one song that springs to mind, even though it's a great song on its own, is "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables", which is like five minutes of Marius singing about how his friends are dead and he's sad about it; I'd probably limit the Thenardiers to only one of either "Dog Eat Dog" or "Beggar at the Feast").

[Kestrel]

I could see cutting down "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" maybe, but cutting it entirely? Heresy! That was probably Marius' best song! Well, aside from "Red and Black" but I'd hate to see that go too.

Between "Beggars at the Feast" and "Dog Eat Dog," keep "Dog Eat Dog" - it's so sinister and drives home the "Miserables" part of the show.

Cutting the Friends of the ABC down makes the most sense, but it seems a real shame. Looking over the Wiki entry with the musical numbers, you could probably cut everything from "A Little Fall of Rain" to "The Final Battle" with the exception of "Bring Him Home." Losing "Drink With Me" would really suck, but I guess cuts have to be made. For that matter, compress things so that "A Little Fall of Rain" happens just before the final battle, with "Bring Him Home" happening at the same time as "On My Own."

You could probably cut out all of the prologue except "Work Song" too. Or, since this is a movie, go straight to "At the End of the Day" and establish Valjean's backstory in a limited way via a brief text into. Nothing's gonna be perfect and losing that driving opening will stink, but that seems like a reasonable cut for time as well.

[Timby]

The cuts made for the 10th anniversary concert are along the lines of what I would expect to see in the film, which means the street brawl / attempted mugging of Valjean and Cosette, the death of Gavroche and Thenardier's appearance at the wedding feast would be axed (and honestly, those are no big losses).

I'd also toss "Turning" (really, I just hate that song, although it could be because of the melody, I'm no fan of "Lovely Ladies," either) and "Little People" and probably turn "Every Day" into dialogue. Cut "Drink With Me" down, as well as "The ABC Cafe."

I would expect "Work Song" to play over the opening titles, moving directly into Valjean's release and his robbery of the bishop. They'll absolutely have to expand that early part of the story, because the musical makes a huge jump from "Valjean repents" to "Valjean owns a factory and is the mayor of a town," and that really won't fly in a movie.

[CaptainCanada]

Timby wrote:

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They'll absolutely have to expand that early part of the story, because the musical makes a huge jump from "Valjean repents" to "Valjean owns a factory and is the mayor of a town," and that really won't fly in a movie.

It's been years since I saw it, but didn't the Neeson version do basically that?

Either way, I don't think that's a problem. Movies do time-jumps like that all the time.

[Kestrel]

That's why I suggested cutting the prologue entirely, although "Work Song" and the bishop over the opening credits would be a good idea. Granted it cuts a HUGE part of the story to dispense with Valjean's backstory, but starting with Fantine at the factory gets us right into the emotional heart, right?