Wow. Well good for him, at least in the early 70's, hell even up to the Taxi Driver days. Today...not at all. Wait...does that mean he was fucking her during The Last Picture Show?

Anyway, as for this whole live singing thing, how does that translate into coverage, or for potential time shifts during the course of the song? Or does the camera follow the singer around for the duration of the song as well, is this the type of musical where all the songs take place "in one place"?

Also does anybody know what attracted Tom Hooper to this project? It seems highly unusual for someone coming off of a Best Director win.

Far from it... There are narratively complex songs throughout the show... Montage songs with the leads all in different places, songs that indicate long time passages, and huge choral numbers (with both no-name and lead soloists) that take place *during* battles, to mention a few...

I'm much more interested in this now because of the live singing angle, but I don't have a clue how it will work. Do they have dozens (or hundreds) of people individually mic'd at once for mixing? It seems a very complex task. And the sound designers and music producers are gonna need to be brilliant to take all that live stuff and fashion a good post-production soundtrack. (I should say 2 soundtracks really, one for the movie itself and one for the music album...)

Really nice poster. If you already know the musical, that is--it's a "real person" take on the iconic Les Miz little girl logo...

Live singing doesn't necessarily mean that all the parts are all being sung at once and everything filmed in real-time. They can still take disparate audio recordings and mix them into one song (for the large ensemble songs, for example). The live singing just means that the audio used will match the video that was filmed, rather than lip-syncing or dubbing.

has anyone heard or read anything regarding the film's running time? I'm really curious in knowing how faithful it will be to the stage version (and if anything, namely a song will be deleted). I STILL don't understand the 'boat' scene' we've been seeing in the trailer and tv spot.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/PD8OWbrMi1E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I'm sure song(s) will be dropped, and at least one will be added for Oscar consideration.

^ you mean a new song like in the vein of the musical film versions of Evita and Phantom of the Opera? oh please spare us.

Hopefully any new song will just be something in the end credits. As for cut songs, I at least hope that "One Day More" and "Bring Him Home" stay in.

The Rent movie cut my favorite song ("Christmas Bells").

Rock of Ages cut my favorite song ('The Search is Over')

as for 'One Day More' and 'Bring Him Home' those are pretty integral songs to get jettisoned for the movie version - fans would crucify the director if those songs were cut.

What a weird double feature this will be on x-mas day (Les Miserables and Django Unchained)

2hr 32min, I believe. Before credits.

Saw the "new" version of the stage musical this past August and what you're seeing is the new opening with the chain gang singing "Look Down".

From what I've seen the movie will at least LOOK very similar to the stage version. Prime example is Fantine and the girls' uniform at the factory. I don't believe that was in the old version.

the international trailer has more songs (Russell sings!) and speaking (!!) huh?

http://screenrant.com/les-miserables...ional-trailer/

That international trailer was fucking awesome. Easily my most anticipated movie of the year ever since I saw the teaser with Anne singing I Dreamed a Dream. Too bad so far that's the only song they're utilizing for the US trailers for the uncultured swine.

I'm not sure what to make of Russell's singing voice. I don't question his acting ability at all but I was hoping his singing would have a bit more... oomph to it I guess. Perhaps I'm just used to hearing Javert sing with a very deep voice from the 10th and 25th anniversary concerts. Everyone else sounds terrific though. Hope a longer US trailer will get released.

Giles: I saw the show on Broadway, and seem to recall some spoken dialogue, just not very much. But it was almost 15 years ago so I guess things are a bit fuzzy.

that international trailer looked fucking awesome! looking forward to reliving the Broadway experience i had as this was my first Broadway play ever.

New trailer is good, but like Rent before it this movie seems to be trying to de-emphasize the musical aspect. I can tell they've added more dialogue than was in the stage version.

That's a good way to get people like me to agree to see it when my gf asks. I'm not a fan of musicals that are contstantly... musical.

The musical had very few moments (if any) where dialogue was spoken. See the new trailer was jarring, but reading the first unofficial reviews from today's Lincoln Center screening gives me a ton of hope.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/rac...reening-393758

Very promising, but I hope that the writer was a bit off in his "roughly two hours" statement about the length. This is Les Mis, it's supposed to be epic, so I was hoping for something closer to three hours.

I don't think Samantha Barker will get a nom, the Eponine character is pretty minor aside from one great song. I honestly think that might be why Taylor Swift (or her agents) rejected the role. Hathaway might be shoo-in for a Supporting Actress nom, and the movie perhaps for Best Picture. However, this is a screening done for a bunch of artsy-minded New Yorkers. There is still a VERY strong possibility this will not do that well when it goes to Middle America. Kind of surprised they're doing a wide release.

Wow, this Yahoo Movies article is pretty ecstatic. Anne Hathaway is an Oscar lock and the film has a shot at the record for most nominations ever.

Text of the article below


BTW : This was mentioned in that Hollywood Reporter article but might not have been mentioned here yet -- there is indeed one new song included in this production. It's called "Suddenly" and is apparently very good. Considering the dearth of quality original movie songs that typically compete for this award, that might mean another Oscar here (but unlike last year when Brett from Flight of the Conchords won for "Man Or Muppet", this year we have some decent movie songs including Taylor Swift for "Safe & Sound" (from The Hunger Games), Adele for "Skyfall" and Florence Welch for "Breath of Life" (from Snow White & The Huntsman).

Has anybody else been seeing those Regal ads for this nonstop the last couple months?

Yes. Non-stop is right. Now every time we go to a movie, my wife does the Hugh Jackman side-of-the-hand-into-the-palm thing as soon as that filmed intro begins.

It's good to hear early praise for the film ... though I'm still curious what "public" reaction will be. Any ideas when the review embargo ends?