Tom Hooper to take on Les Miserables

[Marx]

I really hope Taylor Swift has no part in this.

 

[Raiden]

Someone posted this on BWW:

I do wonder why other news sites like MSN would report it if it's not confirmed, but I hope what that post on BWW said is true, so there's still a faint hope that the part of Eponine will go to someone else besides Taylor Swift.

 

[narrows101]

Well, this guarantees that I'll be taking time off from theater message boards already. They're all writing the whole movie off because of this.

I don't like it either, but...wow. Climb down off the ledge, people.

OMG, you ain't kidding!!! Stay away from IMDB!

 

[danoyse]

OMG, you ain't kidding!!! Stay away from IMDB!

I always do!

 

[Pink Ranger]

This all reminds me of the Jack Black>>>Green Lantern controversy from years back.

How naive we were to think that the choice of actor would be the biggest problem with that movie.

 

[flickchick85]

This all reminds me of the Jack Black>>>Green Lantern controversy from years back.

How naive we were to think that the choice of actor would be the biggest problem with that movie.

Honestly the choices of actors we were presented with should have been the first clue that something bigger was wrong.

 

[Pink Ranger]

I don't give a crap either way about Taylor Swift TBH, but one big drawback is there's going to be a contingent of jerks in every screening who will laugh/cheer when she gets shot.

 

[Raiden]

I don't give a crap either way about Taylor Swift TBH, but one big drawback is there's going to be a contingent of jerks in every screening who will laugh/cheer when she gets shot.

I just think that Taylor Swift's acting (or lack thereof) will make some scenes rather awkward to watch instead of emotional or tragic.

 

[narrows101]

Oh, someone is rehearsing and/or taking voice lessons! Wish I can read what page it's opened to. It looks like it's a short title.

http://www4.pictures.zimbio.com/pc/Hugh+Jackman+Hugh+Jackman+holds+sheet+music+5X2glchqQurl.jpg

Hugh Jackman holds onto sheet music from his upcoming film "Les Miserables" while out and about in NYC

 

[danoyse]

Oh, someone is rehearsing and/or taking voice lessons! Wish I can read what page it's opened to. It looks like it's a short title.

http://www4.pictures.zimbio.com/pc/Hugh+Jackman+Hugh+Jackman+holds+sheet+music+5X2glchqQurl.jpg

Hugh Jackman holds onto sheet music from his upcoming film "Les Miserables" while out and about in NYC

That is too cool.

 

[Clu]

OMG, you ain't kidding!!! Stay away from IMDB!

so i went to IMDB to see what everyone was saying......and wow so many hate threads and boycott threads and even the denial threads.

people going through the stages of death, in about a week ill see a thread accepting the casting choices.

 

[narrows101]

It sounds like most of them over there are Brits and in love with the West End show and want all of the West End actors in the movie. You should have read the outcry when Alfie Boe (JVJ in the 25th anniversary addition and also on the West End) wasn't cast!!! There was an outcry when almost every single actor was cast. The only one that really didn't get too many "hate" posts was Hugh. You should have read what they wrote about Crowe and Anne "Crapaway" as they called her. Not to mention the looks and sounds of Eddie and Aaron. And then you get "it started on the West End, all West End stars should be in it! Everyone knows the musical, they will still go!" Not sure about that.... It's not just about the singing. Some people can't separate the difference between stage and film.

 

[Jake Cassidy]

That's nothing new. Brits whinge about everything.

 

[danoyse]

It sounds like most of them over there are Brits and in love with the West End show and want all of the West End actors in the movie. You should have read the outcry when Alfie Boe (JVJ in the 25th anniversary addition and also on the West End) wasn't cast!!! There was an outcry when almost every single actor was cast. The only one that really didn't get too many "hate" posts was Hugh. You should have read what they wrote about Crowe and Anne "Crapaway" as they called her. Not to mention the looks and sounds of Eddie and Aaron. And then you get "it started on the West End, all West End stars should be in it! Everyone knows the musical, they will still go!" Not sure about that.... It's not just about the singing. Some people can't separate the difference between stage and film.

Oh, you should visit the Batforums here to see what some people have to say about Anne Hathway.

IMDB is vile. I stopped reading their forums years ago.

 

[narrows101]

Director Tom Hooper was interviewed on BBC Radio 4 starting at about 7:40 in the link below (don't know how long it will be active). It's basically about the process of filming, confirms singing live and how spoken dialogue is going to fit in, there will be a new song/music by the same composer, stuff like that. The cast isn't mentioned except a short blurb about Hugh. Very interesting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018xwt7

 

[danoyse]

A new song? Awesome.

 

[narrows101]

A new song? Awesome.

Most movie musicals do that in order to qualify for the Oscar Best Song - it has to be original and none of the Les Mis songs would be eligible. At least it's by the same composer, and I hope it's a Hugh/JVJ song (no bias here!) - then Hugh can sing it at the Oscars when the song is nominated LOL. But this interview is very interesting when he talks about how the dialogue is going to work with the singing.

 

[JP]

Great interview. I actually thought Les Miz would go the SWEENEY TODD route and NOT have an original song. But maybe it'll be the CHICAGO route and only have one at the end credits.

I don't mind when movie musicals introduce new songs, but sometimes, like in the case of DREAMGIRLS, they go overboard with too many.

 

[Pink Ranger]

Either a new in-context song for JVJ or adult Cossette would be a'ight (the latter because she's generally the most underserved character in the stage musical, the former because it's just more Hugh, which is never a bad thing).

I don't like it when they tack on a new song just for the end credits, I find it so cheezy.

 

[narrows101]

Here's somewhat of a transcription of the interview.

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/tom+hooper

“In a sense, that story [Les Misérables] — and that musical — is already a part of the global conversation as an existing, iconic work.”

“There’s already tremendous curiosity about the film and a tremendous love of the musical out there.”

“I had a wonderful meeting with the Japanese distributor of Les Misérables who had seen the musical 65 times and saw it as a matter of incredible honor that he would release the film in a great way in Japan.”

“People’s desire to experience the emotions the musical evokes is profound. One of the challenges is to make sure if someone has ever seen it before that I’m able to connect them with that emotional pathway on first viewing.”

“I’m working with Claude-Michel Schönberg, the original composer, who’s writing a new song and some new music for it. And he has been very brilliant to structure it with leitmotifs way before it needs to be emotionally powerful. That’s, I’m sure, one of the reasons for its success.”

“I’m not doing the conventional movie musical thing where you have a chunk of dialogue and then a musical number. But what I’m going to do within that is that, we’ll drop into spoken dialogue for two or three lines here or there… it has a real flexibility. And we’re going to shoot the film live, which is unusual for a musical. So to take, I can be saying, ‘Let’s try it again, but speak that line.’ ‘Let’s try it again but halfway through go back to the melody.’”

“I can’t tell you what a difference the live singing makes to the emotion.”

“The problem with [pre-recorded music] is that an actor is having to spend a lot of their brain power in syncing up with what they did… generally for an actor, if you’ve been working hard on a part, you’ll get to this place and singing along with something you did two months ago and you’ll hate it. You’ll kinda think, ‘That’s what I did two months ago. Now my understanding of the part has grown.’”

“Dramatically, it’s very important, because film is about the pure language of the present tense… in a musical, you have to imagine people are inventing melodic construction and rhyme construction live, just as we’re inventing dialogue in a grammatical construction live.”

 

[kvz5]

at new songs.

 

[Pink Ranger]

I feel better knowing that Schonberg is penning the song. They're not just bringing in some hack like David Foster to do it.

 

[danoyse]

I heard someone on some forum saying they wanted the full version of Little People (from the original London cast recording) put back in the movie version. As cute as the song is, I can't think of a more useless addition to the score than the full version of Little People.

 

[Raiden]

So, I heard that Swift has been offered the part of Eponine, but has she accepted it yet? Or is it a forgone conclusion that she'd take it as soon as she won the role over Michele?

 

[kvz5]

Official synopsis:

http://collider.com/les-miserables-movie-synopsis/136104/

Release date: December 7, 2012
Genre: Musical epic
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne
Directed by: Tom Hooper
Adapted from: Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s stage musical Les Misérables, produced by Cameron Mackintosh
Based on the Novel by: Victor Hugo
Screenplay by: William Nicholson, Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg
Music by: Claude-Michel Schönberg
Lyrics by: Herbert Kretzmer
Produced By: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, Cameron Mackintosh
Executive Producer: Liza Chasin

Les Misérables is the motion-picture adaptation of the beloved global stage sensation seen by more than 60 million people in 42 countries and in 21 languages around the globe and still breaking box-office records everywhere in its 27th year. Helmed by The King’s Speech‘s Academy Award®-winning director, Tom Hooper, the Working Title/Cameron Mackintosh production stars Hugh Jackman, Oscar® winner Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and Eddie Redmayne, with further casting to be announced.

Set against the backdrop of 19th-century France, Les Misérables tells an enthralling story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption–a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit. Jackman plays ex-prisoner Jean Valjean, hunted for decades by the ruthless policeman Javert (Crowe) after he breaks parole. When Valjean agrees to care for factory worker Fantine’s (Hathaway) young daughter, Cosette, their lives change forever.

In December 2012, the world’s longest-running musical brings its power to the big screen in Tom Hooper’s sweeping and spectacular interpretation of Victor Hugo’s epic tale. With international superstars and beloved songs–including “I Dreamed a Dream,” “Bring Him Home,” “One Day More” and “On My Own”–Les Misérables, the show of shows, is now reborn as the cinematic musical experience of a lifetime.