New Les Mis Footage - including singing! — Page 2

winston89, Evita opened in 704 theaters with $8.4 million and placed in the number 2 spot at the box office its opening weekend, it did well with critics and made money. I am curious about how you figure Evita is the case and point on audiences not being willing to sit through a sung-through movie musical.

I realize that $8.4 million is not a lot by today's standards for an opening weekend, but (in the suburbs of Chicago at least) multiplexes were just beginning to take over the one or two screen theaters, and tickets were about $3.50. It seems like it did rather well. Phantom is very nearly sung-through, and I think it does a better job at making your very valid point.

Sung-through is a tough sell, I'm not going to deny it, but you know what? I'm going to put out my personal theory - those failed movie musicals folks are so worried about Les Miserables following were not very good. To put it kindly. Which doesn't guarantee your failure at the box office, of course, any more than being good means you'll be watched, but it certainly is a halfway decent explanation.

This looks fantastic. Wow.

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I agree this looks very exciting and potentially great.

Funny how many crushes there seem to be for Eddie, yet I recall how many on bww found his casting so off at first because he wasn't their idea of a matinee idol. I couldn't understand that then and I certainly don't now.

"However, if they are, can a film audience sit through close to two hours (maybe two hours and change) of singing?"

This wouldn't be the first sung through musical movie.
Tommy; The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Phantom of the Opera come to mind. At least the first two made money. Umbrellas is a very acclaimed movie and Tommy isn't bad.

Also Jesus Christ Superstar.

Funny how many crushes there seem to be for Eddie, yet I recall how many on bww found his casting so off at first because he wasn't their idea of a matinee idol. I couldn't understand that then and I certainly don't now.

I wasn't here then, or I would have been adamant in my support of Eddie's charm. The man has a smile to light up lives and cheekbones for days.

Hah, I was waiting for Spork's assessment.

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Looks like Greenwich Palace has been used for the location filming.

Presumably before it became an Olympic venue.

"As said, there will be *bits* of dialogue, but nothing like what they tried to do with Phantom and Rent, taking recitative and trying to make it sound like dialogue. Also, Evita's problem wasn't that it was wall to wall music."

Ah, that makes sense. I still think these kinds of shows (add Dreamgirls, even if it's very different, to the mix) work better through sung. But that doesn't sound awful. However, I actually think modern audiences WOULD take to a through sung film more (the dialogue/song shows on film that have been the biggest film hits recently tend to be ones where the songs are done in a campy, self aware way like Hairspray, or even Little Shop, or where they're fantasy like Chicago). Withthrough sung shows the audience takes ten minutes to adjust, and then can handle it on film--everyone knows music videos (albeit not quite that long).

The featurette looks promising. I just hope the filming we saw was just to get a few closeups--if Hugh Jackman actually sings his whole sololoquy directed talking RIGHT to the camera, I might find that hard to take...

I was briefly concerned that, since after Chicago a number of high profile movie musicals have not only underperformed, but bombed, that Hollywood would quickly get scared off again. Glad that hasn't seemed to have happened and (someone) realizes that it depends on the quality of the actual movie.

Who want to hear acting in a musical? Ugh.

I was sure that this movie with such a Hollywood cast was going to seriously degrade the material, but after watching that clip it looks absolutely spectacular. As for Anne's IDAD, I don't see how you can listen to that and not understand it. There is a definite difference between film and stage and while her interpretation would sound weak and too feeble on stage, a fully belted version on film would be laughable and overdramatic. She's definitely taking the healthy approach.

While studios get nervous about doing so, in the era of internet downloads, couldn't they send out screeners before?