As if Anne Hathaway (One Day) isn’t busy enough playing Selina Kyle, a.k.a. Catwoman, in the latest Batman installment, The Dark Knight Rises, but she soon may add the role of Fantine in a new adaptation of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables to her résumé. She has already taken on such characters as Jane Austen in Becoming Jane, the White Queen in Alice in Wonderland, as well as held her own versus a devious Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada, and is also currently circling rumors of playing Judy Garland in a biopic. It seems like there’s nothing that Hathaway can’t do.
As for Les Mis, the film is definitely in the works with Hugh Jackman (The Wolverine) in talks to take on the male lead of Jean Valjean. If you recall a few years ago at the Academy Awards when Jackman hosted, he and Hathaway performed a duet on stage, earning loads more accolade than Hathaway received in her overall performance as this year’s awkward host. Not to mention, the 2011 ceremony was where the one-time nominee sang the classic ballad “On My Own,” on stage, so we know her singing chops are there.
Broadway World brings us this news, adding that the rumors of a supporting cast are flying with names like Russell Crowe (Robin Hood) as Javert, Geoffrey Rush (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) as Thenardier, Helena Bonham Carter (Great Expectations) as Madame Thenardier, or possibly for young Cosette, Hayden Panettiere (Scream 4), Miranda Cosgrove (iCarly), Lucy Hale (Pretty Little Liars), or Emma Watson (My Week with Marilyn) are possible candidates.
Back in 1998, Emmy-nominated director Bille August reinvented the tale without music for the big screen, which starred Liam Neeson (Taken), Uma Thurman (Kill Bill: Volume One), Claire Danes (Temple Grandin), and Geoffrey Rush (yes you did read his name already), who played Javert.
Oscar-winning Tom Hooper (The King‘s Speech) is set to direct the latest version of Les Miserables, with a screenplay written by William Nicholson (Gladiator). For those of you who don’t know, the original stage version has broken records as the world’s longest running musical, surpassing Cats in London’s West End in 2006. In addition, in January 2010, there have been a historic 10,000 performances of the West End production. New York’s Broadway productions have counted well beyond 7,000 performances from 1986 – 2006.
No official production team has been assembled yet, but filming is supposed to being February 2012, which fits right into Jackman’s readjusted Spring 2012 filming schedule for Wolverine 2.
Just for kicks, I added a link to Hathaway’s performance from the Oscars! A little backstory you should know about this particular version of the song is that Hathaway has just explained to the audience that Jackman was unable to appear on-stage to recreate their much-buzzed-about performance the year before, hence the sarcasm.
Do you think this story should be reinvented for the big screen? Can these actors properly take on the legendary stage roles? Are you interested in seeing this musical brought to life at a theater near you?
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