Les Mis Movie: Russell Crowe as possible Javert?

There's another contender for the new Les Mis movie that's in the works: Russell Crowe. Apparently, the actor is very "keen" on the idea of playing Javert.

Could this work? I haven't heard Russell Crowe sing before, so I can't really judge him on that. Based on looks alone? Hmm... let's compare him with the other speculated Javert front-runner, Paul Bettany.

Ah... I still don't know. Crowe is darker (i.e. not super-white like Bettany), like Javert is "supposed" to be, but in some Bettany photos he has this really fantastically intense look about him... so, yeah, I don't know. This one I'm just really on the fence about both ways.

But... take a look at this shot of Russell Crowe, from the movie Master and Commander (which, ironically, Paul Bettany is also in).

Remind you of anybody? No? Come one, just think about it... think about it some more...

Alright. Does this jog your memory a bit?

RUSSELL CROWE HAS THE ABILITY TO LOOK A LITTLE BIT LIKE FREAKING PHILIP QUAST.

Sigh. Just give me a second to get over that. Okay, I'm good now.

Maybe it's just me. But I see a similarity there. And it's freaking awesome.

Anyway. From what I heard, however, director Tom Hooper really wants Bettany in the Javert role. He probably has a better chance of  getting it than Russell Crowe does.

Of course, all of this possible-Javert-casting is just speculation. Nothing has been set in stone, and all of this is simply what I heard on the grapevine.

Something has been confirmed though, and that's the fact that Hugh Jackman will be in the movie, as confirmed by his rep. However, when asked about what role Jackman would actually be playing, the spokesperson only said, "I think Valjean." So, there's a possibility that he could be playing someone else... but, personally, I'm sure that he's going to be playing Valjean.
Something else that's (kind of) been confirmed? The movie will have spoken dialogue mixed in, unlike the musical, which is sung through. I'm totally fine with that. I mean, turning a theatre musical into a motion picture is going to require some changes.

I've also heard that the movie will probably start filming around February, once Hugh Jackman is done with the movie he's currently working on, The Wolverine.

February. That's in less than a year. OH MY GOODNESS.

They better cast this freaking movie soon, before I go insane.