Studiocanal will co-produce and is handling international sales on Fred Cavayé’s adaptation of Victor Hugo’s epic novel Les Misérables.
Set to shoot at the end of 2024, Les Miserables is produced by Olivier Delbosc’s Curiosa Films, whose notable behind The Taste Of Things, and Richard Grandpierre’s Eskwad, f recent films Like A Son and Spring Blossom.
No cast is yet attached. Studiocanal will release the film in France.
Cavayé’s most recent credits include the World War II-set drama Farewell Mister Haffmann and period comedy This is the Goat! starring Dany Boon which is set for release in France via Pathé on February 21.
Published in 1862, Les Miserables is set against the backdrop of revolutionary uprisings in France, Les Misérables follows the character of Jean Valjean, a peasant sentenced to five years’ hard labour for stealing a loaf of bread whose story spans several years as he is released from prison and reintegrated into society, yet pursued by a police inspector on his trail.
Cavayé said he plans to “take things from the book that have never been adapted on screen, particularly expanding the scope of the female characters like Fantine, Cosette and Eponine…We need to make movies that make people want to go to the movies.”
The novel has been adapted multiple times including a 1958 adaptation starring Jean Gabin, Claude Lelouch’s 1995 film with Jean-Paul Belmondo, a 1998 feature starring Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush, and most recently Tom Hooper’s 2013 musical starring Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway.
“There seems to be a tradition that the book gets a film adaptation every 30 or so years, so now is the perfect time to retell the story with stars of this era,” said Cavayé. “The themes in the story are timeless and universal and resonate with the social issues defining current events in France and beyond today.
“Many people forget that Les Misérables isn’t a musical – it’s a book. There will be no singing in this version.”
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