Tom Hooper directing 'Les Miserables' film- Page 2

[jdtp12]

Posted: 3/25/11 at 10:24pm

MTV did their picks for the leads.


No, thanks.

[ILOHTFAHA (Aida Man)]

Posted: 3/25/11 at 11:49pm

Jean Valjean-Alfie Boe
Javert-Hugh Jackman
Fantine-Keira Knightly
Thenardier-Nigel Planner
Mme. Thenardier-Tracy Ullman
Enjolras-Daniel Radcliffe
Marius-Lewis Bradley
Eponine-Stephanie Davis
Cosette-Emilie Fleming

[theminutepast]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 9:55am

I didn't see Nine, but Daniel Day Lewis sounds like a fantastic fit for Javert. Intimidating and menacing.
Updated On: 3/26/11 at 09:55 AM

[sueb1863]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 10:39am

And he could sure rock the long black trenchcoat! :)

I agree, but I didn't see Nine, either! How was he in that? Could he pull off Javert?

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 10:53am

PLEASE not Emmy Rossum for Cosette. She'd make an underwritten character even more boring and I don't like her singing.

I honestly think you need an unknown as Valjean. Not only do you need someone with a wide range and stellar vocals, you need someone whom the audience believes looks capable of lifting a cart.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 11:17am

I"m sure the wish list includes people like Kira Knightly, Daniel Day-Lewis, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Jake Gyllenhaal, Daniel Radcliffe, Jude Law, Scarlett Johanssen, and perhaps even some surprises like Geoffrey Rush (Thenardier, perhaps?) and Helena Bonham Carter (Mme. Thenardier) or perhaps Emma Thompson.

I personally hope they throw some strong pop/rock singers into the mix to really tear into the score and sing it the way it should be sung.

I'd rather see Fergie cast as Fantine, Cyndi Lauper as Mme. Thenardiar, etc. If Tom Hooper is directing, i'm sure he could get solid acting performances out of singers who don't normally act.

I would prefer that approach, especially with a score that is practically wall-to-wall singing.

Updated On: 3/26/11 at 11:17 AM

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 11:37am

Geoffrey Rush played Javert in the non-musical Liam Neeson version. He's too old for the role now but agree he'd be a great Thenardier.

Anyway, I prefer the score sung with opera and musical theater voices, rather than with rockers, but what we're probably gonna get is film actors trying to sing at all.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 11:47am

Yeah, we'll probably get Johnny Depp as Javert and Matt Damon as Jean Valjean. Anne Hathawy as Fantine. That sort of thing.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 11:50am

Helena Bonham Carter will be Mme. Thenardiar, I just know it.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 1:18pm

Maybe her director will actually let her sing and speak above a whisper this time. Something Burton wouldn't do (as per the making-of documentary on Sweeney). That drove me nuts in the film, especially where Helena's performance was concerned. She says very plainly that he "made her do it that way."

Personally, I think she'd be great as Mme. Thenardier. Just let her bray it like a donkey. A little more Bellatrix, and a little less Mrs. Lovett, this time.


EDIT: Oh, and Kate Winslet would very likely be approached for Fantine as well.

Updated On: 3/26/11 at 01:18 PM

[sueb1863]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 2:29pm

I saw somebody on another board suggest Robert Pattinson for Marius. Um - no! O_O

I haven't really heard what direction Cameron wants to take with this, other than he wants 'someone like Alfie Boe' for Valjean. Which is what makes me think he'll just hire Alfie Boe.

I'd be surprised, though, if Hooper and/ or Mackintosh don't have a list of actors they want to approach. Maybe they've even spoken to some of them. They have to get things started soon; I've heard they want to begin filming by the end of the year, and they have to lay down the vocal tracks the actors will be lip-syncing to before they can film anything. I imagine that's going to take a couple of months, at least.

Of course, first Hooper has to sign on! Right now they're still only in talks. Nothing's been signed yet.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 2:37pm

Les Miz may be a big name all on its own, but it's not a hot property the way it was 20 years ago. They run the risk of another Phantom of the Opera movie if they think they can trade on the title alone.

They need bankable, recognizable names to bring people to the multiplexes, whether they're movie stars, rock stars, or reality TV stars (God forbid).

The point is that it won't amount to more than a period art film without them.

EDIT: And I guarantee that if Cameron MacIntosh wants Alfie Boe in the lead, he'd better put up most of the financing for it himself. No major movie studio would back a 3.5 hour, movie musical with a cast of hundreds and a no-name in the lead. Not these days. Remember Webber put up the money himself for Phantom, so he didn't have to answer to Q ratings with his casting choices.

They could probably get away with ONE central character (even Valjean) being a relative unknown as long as they surrounded that person with recognizable stars (see Hairspray, Dreamgirls, Little Shop, etc.).

Updated On: 3/26/11 at 02:37 PM

[B3TA07]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 3:21pm

"It would also give her a chance to take a step back from "Glee" and Broadway and perform in a more toned-down, Hollywood-style musical production."

Did a writer from The Onion infiltrate MTV's office?

[theminutepast]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 9:50pm

Ha, that part sounded off to me, too.

[madaboutoz2]

Posted: 3/26/11 at 11:55pm

I would love to see Dawn French and Robin Williams as the Thenardiers...

[vf]

Posted: 3/27/11 at 12:59am

Who is bankable now anyway? Even Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie's "Tourist" did poorly in the US. Seems like Deadline every day announces movies starring people who have just done a few things, usually on TV. It just seems like this whole "bankable" notion has been set back a bit and that a lot of new people are getting starring roles in movies. Especially for something like this, where the singing is so important, you'd think that for the lead parts they'd hire people who can really sing.

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 3/27/11 at 1:06am

Someone at MTV knows nothing about Lea Michele's career pre-Glee, apparently.

Amongst that group jokes, such as Zac Efron (ha!), aside, Anna Kendrick really ought to do a musical. If not this one, then something else. But she's a brilliant actress and a very good singer.

[JP2]

Posted: 3/27/11 at 1:06am

As long as One Day More isn't cut.

[My Oh My]

Posted: 3/27/11 at 1:13am

"Deadline has the news that Hooper is negotiating to direct a full-blown musical adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic novel "Les Miserables."

I've seen this statement made repeatedly ever since Mackintosh confirmed he is working with Universal to bring Les Mis to the big screen, and it greatly worries me.

You see, Cameron is a maverick within his profession and he has a way with words, with advertising, with generating hype. He may not have written the musical but he has exposed the world to the musical adaptation and turned increasing attention toward the novel.

But that's not what worries me. I have long believed greater attention to the original novel would only enhance an already wonderful musical adaptation of it, but the way it's worded, it seems as if he's looking to find a director who will start from scratch, adapt the novel, then stick in the BIG Les Mis hits from the musical. Either that or something more along the lines of adapting a mostly spoken version with songs in it.

Ooooh, the horror! I'd like to say that I'm being hysterical and would benefit from a Xanax, but that's what I said to myself the countless times I've had these concerns, that only came true in the worst possible way! LOL.

I still say forget about a film adaptation, film the current London production, and be done with it!

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 3/27/11 at 11:03am

I'd rather be hearing news about Miss Saigon now, to be honest. I don't think Les Mis will work as a film. I WOULD be okay with another non-musical adaptation of the novel, though (it can't possibly get any worse than the version with Uma Thurman... can it?)

[sueb1863]

Posted: 3/27/11 at 11:14am

Pretty much all the articles I've seen indicate that Mackintosh is looking to adapt the musical version for the screen, not do a new version of the story from scratch and then add the songs, or do something radically different with the material. That article's just worded a little oddly, but there have been tons of news articles about this topic the past few days and they're more clear about the matter.

[lowwriter]

Posted: 3/27/11 at 11:24am

Tom Hooper is a very smart director. I'm surprised he's interested in this project because doing a musical is very risky. But he will not cast singers who can't act. He's too good a director of actors. If he casts a pop singer, they would have to prove they could act. I thought the book has already been written by a British writer. So it may have been revised already.

[JP2]

Posted: 3/29/11 at 12:59am

"Helena Bonham Carter will be Mme. Thenardiar, I just know it."


Then I'd expect Timothy Spall wouldn't be far behind as Thenardiar, as the two seem to ONLY do films with each other.

[hottieho13]

Posted: 3/29/11 at 12:34pm

No Emmy and No Lea please!

[hottieho13]

Posted: 3/29/11 at 12:34pm

No Emmy and No Lea please!

and above all else:NO BEYONCE!!!!! going for diversity would be great and if they do..... I just hope they don't go the dull route Updated On: 3/29/11 at 12:34 PM