While a Best Director Oscar doesn’t guarantee a long-lasting career, it certainly opens a lot of doors. King’s Speech director is currently the toast of Hollywood following his Academy Award win, and has pretty much his choice of projects. A couple of weeks ago it was rumoured he was interested in helming the long-gestating film version of the Les Miserables musical, and now Variety reports he’s officially in talks to take on the role.
It’s surprising Les Miserables hasn’t made it to the screen before, as it’s one of the most popular musicals ever written (straight versions have been made, but not the musical), and there have been talk of taking it to the big screen since the late 80s, with the likes of Alan Parker and Bruce Beresford sniffing around it. More recently producer Cameron Mackintosh has teamed up with Working Title to try and get a movie off the ground, and it’s this version Hooper is in talks for.
Elizabeth: The Golden Ages William Nicholson is working on the script for the film version Boubil and Schonberg’s musical, which in turn is based on Victor Hugo’s novel about ex-con Jean Valjean as he tries to outrun his relentless pursuer Javert.