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.

Hugh Jackman confirmed for Les Mis movie?

Alright. So it hasn't officially been announced by the Les Mis people yet, but Hugh Jackman pretty much confirmed it himself.

Hugh was interviewed on a Toronto radio station (98.1 CHFI). They talked about a bunch of things, but about half way/two-thirds of the way in, they start talking about his musical theatre career, and then what other types of projects he would love to do. Hugh says this:

" So, I would love to do one of those [a movie-musical] one day. And, it looks like that's coming through 'cause I'm going to do Les Miserables, the movie version of it, next year. "

So... yeah. I'm assuming that that means that Hugh Jackman is officially going to be Jean Valjean in the movie-musical version of Les Miserables. Which is great. (: In a perfect world, I would have loved for Alfie Boe to have been cast in the role, since Cameron Mackintosh was supposedly interested in him for it in the beginning. But that's just the fangirl in me. (: I think that Hugh will be fantastic as well. At least he has some previous musical theatre experience! (: And he can sing. Does he necessarily have a voice for Valjean? Probably, otherwise why would he have been cast? Plus, he has the star power that may just get the general public to go out and see this movie.

"24601!"

Can you see it? I'm starting to. (:

Yep. I think that I'm slowly becoming more and more excited about this. (: As if I already wasn't. (;

Anyway. If you're interested, you can listen to the whole interview right here. (:

Hugh Jackman can sing?!

I was not very aware of the fact that Hugh Jackman sings until a few days ago, when I saw him on the Tony Awards. He performed this hillarious song with Neil Patrick Harris (who I adore), and I was like, "Woah. That's cool." After that, I didn't think too much of it. And then I saw this headline on Google:

Hugh Jackman & Paul Bettany Could Square Off In ‘Les Miserables’

Which obviously peaked my interest. There's a Les Miserables movie-musical in the works right now, but there hasn't been much word about it since the director (The King's Speach's Tom Hooper) was announced in March. Until now. Apparently, the director really wants Hugh Jackman in the movie. As of right now (according to the article I read), he's already working out a deal with film makers. And what role is Jackman possibly going to play? None other than Jean Valjean. (:

Now, I think I'm kind of on the fence about this, but at the same time I kind of approve. Then again, no film maker is ever going to ask my opinion about this, so I guess it doesn't matter. But still. I think Hugh Jackman could maybe pull it off, from what I've heard of him. Then again, I haven't heard much. So, he could rock at Valjean, or he could bomb at Valjean. I have no idea. (: But, nonetheless, he can sing.

As for the Paul Bettany fellow, the only of movies that he's in that I've seen are A Beautiful Mind and The Secret Life of Bees. I loved him as Charles Herman in A Beautiful Mind. He's also been in A Knight's Tale, The Da Vinci Code, and The Tourist, among many others.

As for his musical history, I don't know anything about that.Which kind of concerns me. I mean, he could possibly be playing Javert. Obviously, I'm a bit attached when it comes to who plays that role. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Of course, none of this is confirmed or set in stone. This is just what's being speculated right now.

A lot of fans are angry because they want real musical theatre people to be in this movie, not popular Hollywood actors (for the record, Hugh Jackman could be considered both). In my opinion, they can't have all musical theatre actors. This movie does need a bit of talented star power for the general public to at least go see it. I think that they need to have a healthy mix of both (as long as Hollywood can sing).

As of right now, I don't really have any prefered actors to make up the cast. I've decided that I like Hugh Jackman for Valjean. I'm still on the fence about Bettany as Javert, because I haven't heard him sing and I'm not too familiar with him. Other than that, I have no idea who should be anybody else.

... Except for one. (:

Ramin Karimloo as Enjolras? Pretty please? (: