Tom Hooper to take on Les Miserables

[narrows101]

Some informative tweets over the past few weeks from additional cast members:

Convicts:

John Barr @JohnBarrUK
@RealHughJackman Hey Hugh - hope today went well as Mayor Jean Valjean - been brill working with you - Jonny - convict 5 x

John Barr @JohnBarrUK
On way home from Portsmouth after 2 amazing days working on 'Les Miserables - The Movie' - playing a convict with a solo line and close up

Josef Altin ‏ @JosefAltin
Hearing Hugh do his vocal warm up while I'm drinking my cup of morning coffee...love my job!

Josef Altin ‏ @JosefAltin
@MarruMc convict 2, ...............jesus hear my prayer!

Josef Altin ‏ @JosefAltin
Wet suit on ....just wondering how to take it off quick enough to go to the loo....todays gonna be fun

Josef Altin ‏ @JosefAltin
Thx for all ur messages today! yh had a great day and les mis is gonna be epic!!!! Trust me!

Ed Davidson-Brett @McEdDb
cannot wait to get soaking wet and pull on some ropes with @RealHughJackman and @russellcrowe! REALLY looking forward to it! #LesMis

Ed Davidson-Brett @McEdDb
had an awesome time on set with @russellcrowe yesterday, he sounded awesome! #lesmis

Ed Davidson-Brett @McEdDb
I leant 2 things today. The world is full of ********ting idiots, and that @RealHughJackman has the body of a god and I dont mind saying it

Danny Dare @Failingtolaunch
@Realhughjackman omg that tune is still in my head... Look down, look down Don't look' em in the eye. Great two days ever...

Factory worker:

Alice Fearn@alice_fearn
@spencerobrien1 babe it as fab. Long days but I loved it!!! However, I look horrendous... Fake teeth, extra bags under eyes, scabby hair!! X

Alice Fearn @alice_fearn
(re Hugh) @Steffi_G he's in the same scene! Seen him every day... Looks hot in his wig x


Alice Fearn @alice_fearn
Lovely to actually have make-up on again today @shrekLondon! (I look horrific in the Les Mis movie! Prepare yourselves)


Alice Fearn @alice_fearn
@matthew_hunt a factory women!! Spent last couple of days being a ***** to Anne Hathaway... V. Hard, she is lovely! X


****e:

Julia Worsley @JuliaClaireW
Costume fitting tomorrow for Les Mis movie - the word diaphanous was bandied about a lot

Rosa O'Reilly @rosaoreilly
@JuliaClaireW hilarious!!! we are going to look SO ugly ha ha! costumes are fab though and hair is amazing! whens yours? have fun xxx

Julia Worsley @JuliaClaireW
@JayTwittOR as head ****e I am slightly more modest!! Hallelujah!!

Julia Worsley @JuliaClaireW
Well the ****e costume is actually gorgeous and not too revealing..... Phew!

Julia Worsley @JuliaClaireW
@Krisp06 there is a bit of diaphanousness but quite layered!!

Students - hint of filming (he's Comberferre):

Sarah Brown @Mulliebrown
@killiandonnelly are you on on april 12th mat?

Killian Donnelly @killiandonnelly
@Mulliebrown I'm not I'm afraid. Off filming

Nice to see Hugh's tradition of handing out lottery tickets to the film crew on Fridays continues:

Ash Tucker @DandyAshSparrow
Filming Les Mis with Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman... Hugh Jackman Personally handed out lottery tickets...he called it 'lucky friday'.

Tilly Calder @tillymakeup
This film is going to be incredible just seen Hugh jackman and Russell crow sing look down amazing

HollyDillonTV @HollyDillonTV
Just had a sneak peek at the new Les Mis film set at Pinewood. Looks pretty Awsome!

"Convict" Danny Dare tweeted this photo:

Josef Altin (I guess he shaved after this photo because he tweeted this:
"So tom hooper wanted me without a beard. Thx tom!!!!"):

 

[Matt]

Bad news guys....

Coming Soon has reported that production has been indefinitely halted on Les Miserables and that Jackman is walking.

Hathaway and Crowe are expected to follow suit.

 

[Boom]

You went a little too heavy on that one, Matt .

 

[narrows101]

I totally hate April Fool's Day......

 

[CGHulk]

I wonder if anyone's going to be doing any April Fools type jokes on these boards today. Naw that would be silly. Sorry to hear that Jackman is walking though!

 

[Van Petrol]

Bad news guys....

Coming Soon has reported that production has been indefinitely halted on Les Miserables and that Jackman is walking.

Hathaway and Crowe are expected to follow suit.

Dude, you had me for a second, but by the time I got to the 'Jackman is walking' part, I knew the score. t:

 

[Angel_Faerie]

My heart just about stopped when I saw that. Not cool, man. Not cool.

Anyway, what's everyone's opinion on what songs will be cut? I personally wouldn't touch a thing, but we all know at least a few cuts are going to be made.

 

[Still Wynning]

My heart just about stopped when I saw that. Not cool, man. Not cool.

Anyway, what's everyone's opinion on what songs will be cut? I personally wouldn't touch a thing, but we all know at least a few cuts are going to be made.

All I know is that they shouldn't, and I mean shouldn't, cut out "Bring Him Home". No exceptions. I love that song to death.

If they omit that excellent song from the film adaptation, someone is going to get cut.

 

[Angel_Faerie]

I'm pretty sure the famous songs (I Dreamed a Dream, On My Own, Can You Hear The People Sing?, One Day More, Bring Him Home, etc) are safe.

 

[Raiden]

I'm pretty sure the famous songs (I Dreamed a Dream, On My Own, Can You Hear The People Sing?, One Day More, Bring Him Home, etc) are safe.

I hope they'll keep Maius' "Empty Chairs At Empty Tables" as well...I like that song.

 

[Majik1387]

I'd say Confrontation, Stars, Master of the House and Empty Chairs at Empty Tables are safe as well.

I think they'll modify/shorten the Prologue songs, At the End of the Day, Lovely Ladies, and pretty much the exposition songs(Cosette Bargain, Thenardier robbery, Wedding scene).

Something tells me Castle on A Cloud, Red and Black, A Heart Full of Love, and the barricade songs(save for Bring Him Home and maybe Drink With Me) will be cut from the movie.

 

[Angel_Faerie]

I'm not so sure COAC will be cut. It's fairly well-known. Guess we'll see.

But really I don't think all that much will be cut. The screenwriter has mentioned they've added a few sprinkles of spoken dialogue here and there, but it's still mostly sung. He does a Q+A sort of thing on his website, and here are his exact words on the subject.

Question: Thanks for replying to the inquiries on the Les Miserables film project. I am looking forward to the film version very much. My question - will you retain the sung-through format basically? Or will it be part full songs, part recitatives, and part spoken dialog? If completely sung-through, are you also collaborating with the team of Boublil and Schonberg?


Answer: Les Miserables is the creation of Boublil and Schonberg and naturally they remain in key position throughout. We are planning to introduce some spoken dialogue, so not full sung-through as on stage.

 

[Majik1387]

Well that's good, like I said, I don't see the exposition scenes I mentioned as needed to be sung. At most I see them using the music as a score during the scene.

 

[Angel_Faerie]

I kind of hope that's not the case. They did that with chunks of the Notes scenes in the Phantom movie and I kept expecting it to be sung and it just felt wrong to me....especially because everything still rhymed.

 

[Raiden]

I'd say Confrontation, Stars, Master of the House and Empty Chairs at Empty Tables are safe as well.

I think they'll modify/shorten the Prologue songs, At the End of the Day, Lovely Ladies, and pretty much the exposition songs(Cosette Bargain, Thenardier robbery, Wedding scene).

Something tells me Castle on A Cloud, Red and Black, A Heart Full of Love, and the barricade songs(save for Bring Him Home and maybe Drink With Me) will be cut from the movie.

I don't think COAC will be cut, because it is one of the most famous songs from the musical, and it really paints a vivid picture about Corsette's childhood. AHFOL illustrates the love triangle between Maius, Corsette, and Eponine so I think it will be kept. However, I think Red and Black and Drink With Me might be cut, or reduced in length to preserve the running time.

 

[danoyse]

I think the sung-through dialogue is most likely going to be cut. I just hope they don't do what Rent did and just have them speak the sung dialogue, which sounded ridiculous. Doesn't sound like they're doing that, though.

 

[Angel_Faerie]

I agree, except for "December 24th, 9 PM Eastern Standard Time. From here on in I shoot without a script. See if anything comes of it, stead of my old ****." That's one of my favorite things from RENT. I write it in my diary on Christmas Eve every year. I would've been pissed if it hadn't been there in some form.

I wish Halloween had stayed, though. It's pretty much my favorite song from the show. I can relate to it so much it hurts.

 

[danoyse]

And cutting the second half of Goodbye Love. There was so much messed up about that movie.

 

[Venomaniac]

Anyway, what's everyone's opinion on what songs will be cut? I personally wouldn't touch a thing, but we all know at least a few cuts are going to be made.

Why are we assuming anything will be cut? All the songs roughly run about 2 hours 20 minutes total, which isn't a horrid run time at all. Keep in mind all the songs either move the plot along or give major character development, so it would make no sense and cause confusion to cut anything.

UPDATE: Maybe part of "Drink with Me" could be cut, though I personally think the friendship between the students is important. You can take out "Turning" though, since it doesn't involve any of the main characters (if I remember correctly). Everything else is vital to the story.

 

[Clu]

kept it a 3 hour epic and call it a day. cut nothing.

 

[narrows101]

Received an alert that a 12-year-old girl was just cast as "Turning Girl" so "Turning" isn't getting cut like some of us thought.

And how nice of Russell Crowe, he tweets:

Russell Crowe ‏ @russellcrowe
working with @realhughjackman is such a pleasure. A gentleman . You wait until you hear him sing this role in Les Mis, honey on the ears

 

[danoyse]

Why are we assuming anything will be cut? All the songs roughly run about 2 hours 20 minutes total, which isn't a horrid run time at all. Keep in mind all the songs either move the plot along or give major character development, so it would make no sense and cause confusion to cut anything.

I agree. They've been editing down the songs a bit over the years to get the show running under 3 hours without axing any of the songs completely, I don't see why this can't be the case here as well.

UPDATE: Maybe part of "Drink with Me" could be cut, though I personally think the friendship between the students is important. You can take out "Turning" though, since it doesn't involve any of the main characters (if I remember correctly). Everything else is vital to the story.

"Drink With Me" is also the song that introduces Marius to Valjean (not directly, but that's when he realizes which one Marius is, and he watches him through that whole song), so that definitely needs to be there.

Received an alert that a 12-year-old girl was just cast as "Turning Girl" so "Turning" isn't getting cut like some of us thought.

And how nice of Russell Crowe, he tweets:

Russell Crowe ‏ @russellcrowe
working with @realhughjackman is such a pleasure. A gentleman . You wait until you hear him sing this role in Les Mis, honey on the ears

Awwww.

 

[narrows101]

I agree. They've been editing down the songs a bit over the years to get the show running under 3 hours without axing any of the songs completely, I don't see why this can't be the case here as well.



"Drink With Me" is also the song that introduces Marius to Valjean (not directly, but that's when he realizes which one Marius is, and he watches him through that whole song), so that definitely needs to be there.




Awwww.

I think people are just used to songs being cut out of movie musicals so it's assumed this will be the case here. But the screenwriter did say something about doing the movie with "all the songs" so here's hoping. And I LOVE "Drink With Me" and agree it's very important - friendship and reminiscing before battle.

They are filming "Lovely Ladies" today - some of them have tweeted they are on their way to Pinewood.

 

[Pink Ranger]

I would not like to see Drink With Me cut. It is very poignant, because the subtext is the students know at some level that they're doomed, and this may be their last night together as friends. A Heart Full of Love isn't that great, but is really the only time we get to hear adult Cossette sing a significant solo, so that should stay. Although I for one would like to see In My Life restored to the musical in its full length, though I'm not betting that happening.

Red and Black can be cut; Do You Hear the People Sing serves roughly the same purpose, exposition wise. Turning can also be cut.

Dog Eat Dog can also be cut; although I love a good corpse-robbing song as much as anybody, if they need to trim the extraneous parts of the plot, this is where they could do it.

Songs that can be reduced to just a verse or two (kind of like how Little People was cut down from the orignal length) include Lovely Ladies and Javert's suicide.

 

[The Guard]

I would imagine it's going to be mostly intact. It's Les Mis.