Hugh Jackman May Finally Sing On Screen. (Plus: Paul Bettany!)
Wednesday, June 15, 2011 at 11:48PM 
If I know The Film Experience crowd you've already heard that Hugh Jackman is in talks to star in Tom Hooper's screen adapation of Les Miserables, affectionately known all over God's green earth (that show has travelled everywhere) as "Les Miz". I personally couldn't be more thrilled since Jackman as song & dance man is my all time favorite Jackman. Since I love all the other incarnations of Jackman with great muchness that is saying a hell of a lot.
(I will never ever ever forget or regret seeing him on the boards in The Boy From Oz... and the show wasn't even good!)
You may recall that we did a "Cast This" awhile back and Hugh Jackman was the favorite choice for starring in the comments. My greatest desire IF they secure Jackman -- who has been so ready to sing onscreen that he even supposedly did it in Chinese in his cameo in Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (opening soon) -- that the studio won't feel they have to have huge stars in every role and will cast according to actual vocal/acting gifts. Les Miz is not "pop" music. You can't have a pleasant voice with tiny range and merely be able to carry a tune. You've got to be able to carry epic melodrama in your voice.
Les Miz is a beast of a property and will be terrifically hard to pull off but it COULD make a great film. Especially if they cast well and cast for the roles andvoices and not from fear and bet-hedging. It's a long long way until a first trailer (ha!) but IF when it arrives, Hollywood is trying to pretend that it ISN'T a musical, as so many modern musicals have done (despite notable box office successes in the genre in the past decade), than we'll know they blew it and the studio is nervous. But for now, I'm trying to stay optimistic. Hugh Jackman would sure help boost the possibility that it will be a great film version.
Good luck Tom Hooper. You'll need it.
AND THIS JUST IN
Paul Bettany has read and sung for the part of "Javert"