Trailer
Plot summary
In 1815, after nineteen years in prison for stealing bread and for attempted escapes, Jean Valjean leaves Toulon on parole. A parolee finds no work or lodging, and the Bishop of Digne shelters him. Valjean steals the bishop's silver. Caught, he is freed when the bishop calls the silver a gift and urges him toward an honest life. Valjean breaks parole and takes a new identity, while Javert, a former guard at Toulon, vows to bring him to justice. Eight years later Valjean runs a factory and serves as mayor of Montreuil. Fantine, one of his workers, is dismissed by the foreman when it emerges she supports her daughter Cosette, who lives with the Thénardiers.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Les Misérables (2012)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Rather than lip-syncing to pre-recorded tracks, the cast sang live on set to piano accompaniments piped through earpieces, with the orchestra added in post-production; production sound mixer Simon Hayes captured the vocals with 50 DPA 4071 lavalier microphones.
- Tom Hooper's choice to have the cast sing live became a turning point for the movie musical: Cats (2019, also directed by Hooper), Dear Evan Hansen, Cyrano and the Wicked films used the technique throughout, while Into the Woods and La La Land used it for portions.
- A clip of the film's "Do You Hear The People Sing?" scene spread on Twitter during the lockdown of the 2022 Shanghai COVID-19 outbreak as a form of protest, and was blocked by the Chinese government to stop further protest.
- Anne Hathaway chose to have her real hair cut off on camera for the scenes in which Fantine becomes a prostitute.
- Hugh Jackman went on a 36-hour liquid fast and ran 45 minutes each morning on an empty stomach to lose weight for Valjean's prison scenes; he shed ten pounds so rapidly that his eyes and cheeks sank severely.
- Before Anne Hathaway was cast as Fantine, Amy Adams, Jessica Biel, Tammy Blanchard, Kristin Kreuk, Marion Cotillard, Kate Winslet and Rebecca Hall were all considered for the part.
- Cameron Mackintosh announced at an Oliver! UK tour curtain call in Manchester that its Nancy, Samantha Barks, would reprise Éponine, a role she had played in the West End and the 25th Anniversary concert; Barks had auditioned for 15 weeks.
- Les Misérables held the record for the highest worldwide opening gross for a film adaptation of a stage musical until Wicked's $162.9 million opening in 2024.
