DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING IN A NEW LES MISERABLES?

I was lucky enough to catch a performance of Les Mis during the most recent b-way revival a few years back and it was tremendous.  What a powerful show!  I’m very much looking forward to seeing what kind of cast Hooper can wrestle together for this. 

An uninspiring choice for the guy's big follow-up.

Now THIS is something I can get nerdy about. 

Raises so many questions though. Is he going to get Broadway actors who can actually sing, or go the horrible Mama Mia route? Also, Les Miserables is an operretta, with very little spoken dialogue. Obviously that won't be the case with the movie (though I'd love it to be), so they're going to need to diverge from the musical considerably to get it right.

My hope: They'll cast the Hollywood people (like I'm sure they'll have to to make it profitable) but dub over their singing voices. Also, Bob Hoskins as Thenardier. Or is he too old now? 

Please keep us updated on this one.

Seriously, I want to apologize for making fun of you guys when you nerd out over comic book movies and Lovecraft adaptations and everything. Because this has me so fucking excited and energized I can hardly stand it. I hadn't realized what a fanboy I was until I heard this news.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew Merriweather 

An uninspiring choice for the guy's big follow-up.

I don't know, the energy in both The Damned United and The Kings Speech suggests he could make quite a great traditional musical. His use of editing, use of space, attention to character could (with the right choreographer) create something special. I'm a musical geek and a French Revolution geek and yet I've never seen Les Miserables.

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Originally Posted by Spike Marshall 

 His use of editing, use of space, attention to character could (with the right choreographer) create something special.

 

I agree with this.  

I'm absolute shit at deciphering song lyrics, so I've never been great shakes at watching a stage musical.  Phantom, Show Boat, Les Mis... I went to those and dozed through them all because I couldn't follow the story through the lyrics.  It's a shame.  I'm a subtitle freak.

I'll be looking forward to what Hooper can bring to this project.

I was actually thinking about this odd thing he did with composition in The Kings Speech, where his character shots are from different geography perspectives and so the eyeline between two characters is replicated but doesn't actually correspond to the natural eyelines of the characters. It's almost like a call and response shot setup, but without music. 

Not a huge fan of the music (with the occasional exception of "Master of the House"), but it's certainly a great story, and I'm interested to see it.

And, yeah, WTF was up with the Neeson-Rush debacle? Probably didn't help that I saw it on a plane, but still...

Well, here's your big chance, Susan Boyle!

I read the massive novel a couple years ago, but have yet to see the musical.   I've listened to the Broadway soundtrack and was lukewarm to it, so I'm looking forward to see how the songs work in context to the visuals. 

I am a fan of...Few musical shows, but Les Miserables is my favorite.  To me, the storyline is similar to...The Fugitive, with Jean ValJean as Dr Richard Kimble, and Javert as the inspector hot on his case.  I could see...Daniel Day Lewis as Jean, with Hugh Jackman as Javert!  As the one bright spot of, the, Film Musical, The Phantom Of The Opera, I would...Love, to see Emmy Rossum as one of the leads, in Les Miserables!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spike Marshall 

I was actually thinking about this odd thing he did with composition in The Kings Speech, where his character shots are from different geography perspectives and so the eyeline between two characters is replicated but doesn't actually correspond to the natural eyelines of the characters. It's almost like a call and response shot setup, but without music. 

Hahahaha, yeah.  I clumsily went about trying to discuss that in the thread for The King's Speech.  Hooper composed certain dialog scenes in a way that really made you take note of the setting.

Man, I really need to read more threads here. I think the new layout flummoxed me and I know I missed a bunch of great discussion on a ton of great movies. 

In addition to the great King's Speech, his six-hour visual blowjob that is John Adams cements this as a great match of material and director. Yes, I find Dutch tilts and Laura Linney in the 1780's sexy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeb 

Not a huge fan of the music (with the occasional exception of "Master of the House"), but it's certainly a great story, and I'm interested to see it.

 

And, yeah, WTF was up with the Neeson-Rush debacle? Probably didn't help that I saw it on a plane, but still...

I took my mom to see it for Mother's Day. We were so excited, which undoubtedly made it more miserable.

I'm really excited about this news, I don't think I conveyed it very well.  But it really, really hinges on the casting.  Hooper is a great pick, but it could still go so wrong!

I've been a sucker for this show ever since being taken to the classic Aussie iteration that ran for quite a few years back in the late eighties. Just love the shit out of it, definitely my favorite of the more straightforward traditional musicals (as opposed to the Horrors - both Rocky and Little Shop). The music is simply gorgeous and moves a story that emotionally grabs me from its opening and leaves me wet cheeked and exhilarated by its end. I've actually been waiting for a big budget film for a lot of years now so Hooper better not fuck this up.

I may end up getting as geeky about this as The Talented Mr.Ripoll - I'll certainly be following it very closely.

...oh and as to the Jackman suggestion, frankly 'Our Hugh' could pull of either Valjean OR Javert pretty fantastically.

As obvious a choice as he may be considering the director - Colin Firth would nail the shit out of Javert - has anyone subjected themselves to Mamma Mia, and how was his singing voice? Ralph Fiennes also proved he had a pretty great voice in Prince Of Egypt, he'd be a perfect Javert as well.

Ewan McGregor has a pretty great voice, I reckon he could do Valjean.

Just dear god get actors who can sing please. Like, really sing. No Johnny Depps in Sweeney Todd thanks.

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Originally Posted by The Rain Dog 

 

As obvious a choice as he may be considering the director - Colin Firth would nail the shit out of Javert - has anyone subjected themselves to Mamma Mia, and how was his singing voice? Ralph Fiennes also proved he had a pretty great voice in Prince Of Egypt, he'd be a perfect Javert as well.

Sadly, Colin Firth can't sing. He seems to be one of the rare British actors who can't. But he was really pretty bad in Mamma Mia! (not as bad as Pierce Brosnan though).  He sings in "The Importance of Being Earnest" and I thought his off-key warble was a put on...no. :(

Patrick Wilson has a great voice, he was Jackman's replacement for Oklahoma!, he could do Jean Valjean for sure. 

Crazy enough, Ioan Gruffudd (of Fantastic Four and Hornblower fame) has a fantastic operatic singing voice. I heard him once on some BBC show and it was like holy shit, you shouldn't be doing stupid "edgy" dramas, you should be on Broadway or the West End. I always thought if they did a movie, he should be Marius. But that was pre-Fantastic Four and Amazing Grace, and I no longer fancast him since he seems unable to act. Maybe he'd do better in a musical.

I kind of hope they cast for acting, and just dub in singing voices where necessary. Because a production this large, they will NOT go with unknowns from Broadway, but I don't want to hear Colin Firth warble up Stars either. It's not like the singing is done live on the set (right?), so why not dub in some really talented singers?

Well, other than bruising some actors' ego, I suppose.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll 

I kind of hope they cast for acting, and just dub in singing voices where necessary. Because a production this large, they will NOT go with unknowns from Broadway, but I don't want to hear Colin Firth warble up Stars either. It's not like the singing is done live on the set (right?), so why not dub in some really talented singers?

 

Well, other than bruising some actors' ego, I suppose.

Um... because Les Mis is nothing BUT singing? It's essentially an opera in English for all intents and purposes. What acting would an actor be doing exactly if their entire vocal performance was being dubbed?

I would be shocked as HELL if they kept it an operetta. There's no way it gets that budget with practically no dialogue. That's the first thing the person adapting the musical will do. If I'm wrong, I'll EAT MY HAT.

What kind of hat?

Just caught this last weekend at the Ohio Theater. I had forgotten how racy it actually is, but I suppose if everyone is wondering how they would mix music and dialogue, don't forget about Liam Neeson starring alongside Geoffrey Rush and Uma Thurman in 1998's movie version:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119683/

Never saw it, though.

They can get Gerard Butler to growl through every note!  It worked before, right?  RIGHT!?