Hugh Jackman to lead Les Miserables cast

In my first Broadway Geek post, I talked about my love for Les Miserables. Due to scheduling conflicts, shooting on Wolverine 2 may be pushed to Spring of 2012, which could allow Les Mis, starring Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean, to begin production in February. I. am. stoked. Jackman has a fantastic voice. He won a Tony for The Boy From Oz and has hosted the ceremony several times. He also was Executive Producer of Viva Laughlin, a musical series which appeared briefly on CBS, in which he had a small role and did a number or two. Not only can he sing, but he can dance as well! I would  absolutely love to see him in a movie adaptation of one of my favorite musicals.



Broadway World has reported that Anne Hathaway, who is currently filming The Dark Knight Rises, is being considered for Fantine, a role that has been filled on the stage by Patti LuPone and Lea Salonga, and by Uma Thurman in the 1998 movie adaptation of the book. Amy Adams and Rebecca Hall are also being considered for the role.

Screen Rant reports that Paul Bettany is in talks to portray Javert, Valjean's antagonist. I'm a huge fan of his and would love to see him in this movie, though Broadway World has said that Russell Crowe is being considered as well. Tom Hooper, the Academy Award winning director of The Kings Speech, is set to direct. Helena Bonham Carter, who is no stranger to movie musicals, is being considered for a role, as well as Hayden Panettiere, Miranda Cosgrove, and Geoffrey Rush.

There's already an awful lot of awesomeness surround this movie and it hasn't even begun production yet. I'm interested to see how it plays out.

Update 9/8

Less than a week after I posted this story about Les Miserables, a casting announcement has been made about Inspector Javert. Russell Crowe has been cast to play the antagonist to Hugh Jackman's Jean Valjean. I've not heard Russell Crowe sing (that I can recall) so I cannot judge how this will play out, but I'm a huge huge huge fan of his. In fact, a combination of Jackman and Crowe is going to provide much sexiness to this movie. Geek Tyrant is reporting that the musical's original producer Cameron Mackintosh is producing the film and the original score by composer Claude-Michel Schoenberg is going to be used. As someone who appreciates the brilliance and complexity of the music of Les Miserables, I appreciate this announcement. The announcement of Russell Crowe as an addition to the cast is definitely exciting. I'll keep everyone up to date on more details as they are forthcoming!