Les Misérables director Tom Hooper may have been bypassed with a nomination Wednesday by the British Film Academy for Best Director (though the film itself received nine nominations), but at the Palm Springs International Film Festival this week, he received the event's Sonny Bono Visionary Award at a celeb-filled event that included Naomi Watts, Bradley Cooper, Helen Mirren, Sally Field and Ben Affleck. At the festival, Hooper talked about the creation of Les Misérables, why the story made him cry and the "dark box" Anne Hathaway traveled to as she took on the role of Fantine.
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Quentin Tarantino and David O. Russell were edged out of the pack in today's Directors Guild Award nominations announcement, giving way to a rather conservative quintet of Oscar hopefuls. So let the DGA backlash begin: Between Ben Affleck (Argo), Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty), Steven Spielberg (Lincoln), Tom Hooper (Les Miserables), Ang Lee (Life of Pi), which nominee should have gotten the shaft to make the DGA race even remotely interesting?
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Now that Les Misérables is expected to surpass its opening-day box-office expectations by $5 million-10 million, director Tom Hooper could pretend that adapting the beloved musical for the big screen was a walk in the park — but he'd be lying. On Thursday, Hooper spoke to Movieline from his Sydney, Australia hotel room and, as he watched a massive tanker navigate Sydney Harbor, likened the challenge of directing the film to piloting an unwieldy boat through a very tricky channel. more »
Early Thursday morning, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced its Golden Globe nominees, and, as you might expect, there were some surprises. Thanks to the Academy's decision to unveil its Oscar nominations on Jan. 10, three days before Globe winners are revealed on Jan. 13, today's nominations will have less bearing than usual on Oscar jockeying. But don't let anyone kid you. Academy voters may have nothing in common with HFPA members, but they aren't impervious to the media's perception of who's hot, cold or no longer in the running. more »
Hugh Jackman is known for his love of a good musical as much as he's known for his portrayal of the adamantium-reinforced wise-ass Wolverine. So, it's no surprise that he used a bit of the latter character's blunt persuasiveness to land the part of Jean Valjean in Les Misérables. more »
The film version of Les Misérables is building momentum ahead of its Christmas roll-out in the States, and much has been made about Anne Hathaway's very slimmed down look. She even made fun of her much shorter hair style, likening her new 'look' to resembling her brother.
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Colin Firth won an Oscar playing Britain's King George VI in the 2010 historical drama The King's Speech. And Dame Helen Mirren won her Academy Award playing the current U.K. monarch Queen Elizabeth II back in 2006 for her role in The Queen. Now both are set to wear their crowns again in two separate projects.
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After a leaked false start not long ago and Tuesday's batch of new photos, the marketing push for Tom Hooper's Les Misérables has strengthened further this morning with a 90-second teaser. It speaks — or rather, it sings — for itself. Take it away, Anne Hathaway!
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So... much... beard! One of your best first non-set spy pic looks at Tom Hooper's star-studded Les Miserables movie was Tweeted last night by star Hugh Jackman, who debuted his Jean Valjean "convict look" days into filming. After the jump, behold the dirty-faced, hirsute handsomeness on display as Jackman channels Victor Hugo's noble convict.
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Taylor Swift may have been offered a role in Tom Hooper's Les Miserables film, but has she recently been replaced? According to Broadway World, theater impresario Cameron Mackintosh, who is also producing Hooper's film, announced onstage at a curtain call for Oliver! that stage actress Samantha Barks has been chosen to play Eponine -- the role he cast her in for the 2010 25th anniversary Les Mis concert. Les Mis purists, you may exhale in 3, 2, 1...
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Though Anne Hathaway is still just rumored to be a potential addition to Tom Hooper's musical film adaptation of Les Miserables, star Hugh Jackman is already getting some company for the December 2012 release. According to Variety, Russell Crowe will play foil to Jackman's Jean Valjean as Inspector Javert. Could Crowe's past experience singing with his bands 30 Odd Foot of Grunts and The Ordinary Fear of God have given him the casting edge?
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Perhaps it was only a matter of time before Tom Hooper's Best Picture winner The King's Speech got its own XXX parody, but who could have anticipated such... quality?
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The folks at Rotten Tomatoes have tabulated their annual Best of the Best list, inserting Tom Hooper's 2011 Best Picture winner The King's Speech into the annals of Oscar history. But comparing great films to other great films has always been something of an apples to oranges situation; how can you measure, say, The Godfather Part II against An American in Paris -- two very different films that occupy adjoining slots on the list and have the same Tomatometer ranking (98 percent)? With a carefully calculated algorithm, that's how! Still... why does The King's Speech not quite feel right sitting so high above other bona fide classics?
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Yes, yes. The King's Speech will win, and no matter how hard we try to tell ourselves any other film has a chance in hell, its abiding safeness will triumph Sunday night. But I'd like to think the Academy will spread the love around -- a win for The Social Network here, a Natalie Portman winner's guffaw there, and some gold for Hailee Steinfeld. Hope she brings her blingitude for the big night.
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