The running time of Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables has finally been revealed and it’s sure to satisfy long-time fans of the show.
The musical, like most famous Broadway musicals, has a tendency to run over two hours. The film version, according to a tweet from Universal’s Michael Moses will run at two hours and thirty-two minutes without the credits.
Time for a little clarity.End credits aren’t on yet but the running time of LES MISÉRABLES without them is 2:32.
— Michael Moses (@michael_moses) October 25, 2012
With 49 songs to run through, (50 if you count the song written specifically for Hugh Jackman) 2:32 is a decent running time that might give relief to fans hoping for as little cut out of the show as possible.
Those familiar with Les Miserables have been preparing themselves to either love or hate this adaptation, and a running-time worthy of Les Miserables’s epic scope is a step toward that. The show is traditionally an operetta, which means that all of the scenes are sung rather than spoken, so it makes sense that very little will be cut since most of what’s featured in the musical is absolutely necessary to the plot.
The actors are certainly getting into it too. Helena Bonham Carter seems to have taken up a life of pickpocketing to ready herself for the role of the scheming Madame Thenardier, something that she has identified as her secret hidden talent. We have yet to hear from Sacha Baron Cohen, who will be putting on yet another face to play the master of the house, Monsieur Thenardier.
The rest of the cast have had things to say about the sorta-groundbreaking way that they’re filming the musical. In case you haven’t heard yet, every actor will be singing live on-camera with their voice being recorded in real-time.
For a list of reasons why this is a good thing, please click here.