scribbling Interesting phraseology…
Sure, why not? Hugh Jackman can do anything.
I’m not sure what I think. I would certainly see it - and I suspect he could pull it off.
If we’re typecasting, Timothy Spall should play Thenardier (ie, Wormtongue inHarry Potter, Beetle Bamford in Sweeney Todd, and the similar character in Enchanted).
And I honestly think Zac Efron could do a good job as Marius. He was great in Hairspray.
That’s my thought: Every film version of the story sucks already so it’s not as though Jackman is going to destroy a fine film legacy here. He might even pull it off and be great.
I can see Jackman as Valjean.
All I know is that there’s no way in hell that Lea Michele isn’t gonna be Eponine. (Or, if Idina Menzel plays Fantine, Lea can play her daughter again as Cosette, though it’s a duller role.)
After seeing them perform together at this year’s Tonys, I hope Marius is played by Neil Patrick Harris.
It’s just a knee-jerk reaction from me, but Val Jean has always felt older and less, um, hunky than Hugh Jackman. That’s what makeup is for, but it’s just my first thought.
Valjean was described as a very fit and dignified man. Aside from aging, I don’t think they’d need to do much to Jackman. Valjean worked on a chain gang for nineteen years and he’d have the hard muscled body to show it, plus his nickname was “Jean the jack” because he was so strong he could lift things most people thought couldn’t be lifted without mechanical assistance. He was one of those rare physical specimens who was blessed with prodigious strength and physical prowess which served him well both on the chain gang and afterward. The book tells of how he retained his physique, agility, and strength well into his 40s and 50s, perhaps even into his sixties. He is shown performing feats of physical strength(bursting ropes, free-hand climbing walls, etc) well after his hair has turned fully white. In the book he was born in 1769, arrested when he was 16, released at 35, then works as a half-wage slave for about nine years before he encounters the Bishop who turns his life around. In 1815 he goes into Montreuil-sur-Mer and he would have been about 44 when he began his life there. It took him a few years to revolutionize the main industry of the town(making cheap jewelry) by making it even cheaper(replacing welds with simple bent metal) and becoming mayor under the name of Madeliene. This comes to an end sometime around 1823 with his revealing himself to save the man who had been mistakenly identified as Valjean. So at this point he’s about 54-55 when he meets Cosette. Ten years later is the revolt(1833) and his physical bravery and actions at the barricade, to say nothing of carrying a wounded Marius afterwards, was remarkable for a man of 64 years of age in the 19th century.
Valjean was almost certainly a well built man, as is Jackman.
Enjoy,
Steven
Daniel Day Lewis as Javert would be badass.
I wore out my tape (!) of the original cast with Colm Wilkinson, but I like the idea of Hugh Jackman in that role. I would see it!
How about an all-“Princess Bride” edition?
- Mandy Patinkin as Valjean
- Christopher Guest as Javert
- Chris Sarandon as The Bishop
- Billy Crystal as M. Thenardier
- Carol Kane as Mme. Thenardier
- Fred Savage as Marius
- Robin Wright as Fantine
- Cary Elwes as Cosette
I don’t have anyone to play Eponine, though – there aren’t enough female parts in TPB. Maybe Wallace Shawn? 
Inconceivable!
i think he’s better off playing rhett butler.
I don’t mind if they write some new material for the movie, but I hope they don’t cut anything save perhaps some of the minor exposition lines. They should be able to figure out that their core audience wants to hear every word.
Ask Sweeney Todd fans how well that assumption worked.
No bleedin’ chorus or “Ballad of Sweeney Todd” my ass. Screw you, Burton.
That was awesome. What a random find. Thank you!
Please please please cut Turning. That song is insipid and useless. My understanding is that the song mostly exists to give the actresses something to do in Act II. The movie won’t care! Cut it! At the very least, make it very very short.
Also, I read that for the stage they had to cut a wonderful scene where Valjean meets Cosette by the well. I think it was due to technical difficulties for the stage transition. The Movie can do it. Bring it back!
Yes! If there’s some way to cut it from the movie so definitively that it retroactively removes it from the stage show, that would be even better.
At all events, there will most likely be a new song put into the movie. Something has to be eligible for the Oscar. I think the only one of the new-ish movie musicals that didn’t do this was Sweeney Todd. But I kind of hope there isn’t, because I can’t for the life of me figure out where it would go.
Yeah I agree. This scene,
while it wasn’t in the original production, was added back in for both the Broadway revival and the recent Walnut Street production in Philadelphia. It would be nice if they include it in the film.
And I really like “Turning.” It illustrates the futility of the boys’ fighting and is a great intro to “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables.”