Les Misérables By Kerry Costello

Les Misérables (2012) is a British drama musical (based on a stage musical adapted from the French novel Les Misérables) set in 19th century France following the life of an ex convict avoiding capture as he agrees to take care of a dying prostitute’s illegitimate daughter.

ProductionProduction for Les Miserables began in June 2011, with Tom Hooper as director and the screenplay written by William Nicholson. The all-star cast includes Hugh Jackman (Jean), Russell Crowe (Javert), Anne Hathaway (Fantine) and Amanda Seyfried (Cosette) though Emma Watson was considered to play Cosette and Kate Winslet to play Fantine.

Filming mostly took place in areas of England like Greenwich, Northamptonshire and Hampshire but also took place in France. The budget was $61,000,000, due to the high profile cast and Oscar winning director Tom Hooper and was produced by Working Title Films.

DistributionLes Miserables was distributed by Universal Pictures (the parent of Working Title), one of the six major movie studios. It was set to be released on the 14th December 2012 but was postponed to Christmas Day in fear of conflicting with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. It was released on the 11th January 2013 in the UK.

Marketinghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNKcLXvuF7g&safe=

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MarketingThe marketing campaign for Les Miserables was mostly viral and promoted through the film’s Facebook page in order to reach more people and create a buzz.

It started with the release of a teaser trailer online in May 2012. In September 2012, more buzz was generated from a “first look” video uploaded on Facebook in which users could see the extensive singing training the actors had to endure for the film and enjoy exclusive behind the scenes footage, as well as the international trailer.

Following this, in late September 2010, a new poster for the film was released and then in October, several character posters were released. Footage of the film’s premiere in New York was streamed online.

Having been based on a book and stage play, Les Miserables already had a pre-sold audience. Versions of the book were also published with the front cover as a poster of the movie (tie in production)

About the Director…Tom Hooper is a British director, best known for directing films such as Les Miserables and historical drama The King’s Speech (2010). The King’s Speech won seven BAFTA’s and four Academy Awards, including Best Director for Hooper. This partly explains the high budget for Les Miserables as Hooper had, by this point, become a critically acclaimed film director.

About the Production Company…

Working Title is a British Film Company that was founded in 1983. After the huge success of British films such as Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, Love Actually, Billy Elliot and Shaun of the Dead- Working Title could branch out with American films such as Burn After Reading. Considering it is a subsidiary of Universal Studios and one of the most successful British film companies, it makes sense that their films would be successful at the box office.

ClassificationLes Miserables has a classification of 12A due to the presence of violence and sexual material but also as not to restrict its audience.

Box OfficeDue to the pre-sold audience of Les Miserables. the high profile cast (star power) and the list of award nominations, it is not surprising that it was hugely successful at the box office.

In the US, Les Miserables broke the record for the highest opening day gross for a musical film and was also the second highest opening day gross for a film released on Christmas day, premiering in 2,208 screens and grossing $27.3 million in it’s opening weekend.

In the UK, it grossed £8.1 ($13.1) million in its opening weekend and was not only the largest opening weekend for a musical film but for Working Title.

To date, Les Miserables has grossed $132,229,075.