Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway and Russell Crowe in new images from Les Miserables
Brad Sturdivant
May 29th, 2012
Lost in all the excitement of the superhero movies and Quentin Tarantino’s DJANGO UNCHAINED is the A-list packed musical LES MISERABLES from director Tom Hooper. After winning an Oscar for THE KING’S SPEECH, Hooper is set to follow it up with the big screen adaptation of the popular musical. And to help him along the way, he’s enlisted the help of Hugh Jackman, who simultaneously can be the most masculine and the most feminine man in the world. And you gotta love the Wolverine chops on Hugh Jackman in the image above. But even with such a great cast, I fear Hooper’s task may be too lofty. I’m not sure musicals like this translate well to the big screen and I feel compelled to point that there was an attempt to make this into a movie barely 14 years ago. Many don’t remember, but that version also had a star studded cast that included Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman and Claire Danes. Let’s hope Hooper’s version fares a little better.
Of course, the stage production is one of the most loved musicals of all time, so fans will be a little more critical than they would with some other films. I remember the backlash that THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA got when it hit theaters in 2004 and I can’t help but feel like this version of LES MISERABLES is going to receive the same kind of criticism. For those that aren’t completely familiar with the story, LES MISERABLES is about a poor man that steals a loaf of bread to stay alive and the policeman that pursues him. The event consumes both of their lives. LES MISERABLES stars Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne, Samantha Barks and Helena Bonham-Carter. The Tom Hooper directed film hits theaters on December 7th. (USAToday)
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