Were you wishing for yet another remake of Les Misérables this holiday season? Don’t look now, because it’s coming our way — and, like the last film, it will feature more celebs. However, unlike the film musical version of Les Mis that won Anne Hathaway her Oscar in 2013,
Deadline reports that this six-part version will not include any songs.
The BBC’s Masterpiece re-telling of Les Mis will only focus on the plot of the story, as it was written by Victor Hugo — meaning we won’t hear actors sing difficult songs from the musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg.
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The BBC’s version, naturally, stars an English cast. Lily Collins will portray Fantine, who is arguably the most well-known character of the story after Hathaway’s performance. Dominic West (The Affair) will star as Jean Valjean, and David Oyelowo (Selma) will play Javert, the principal antagonist of the story. The screenplay is written by Andrew Davies, who also wrote the original English version of House of Cards.
In the trailer, the focus seems to be on Fantine’s backstory, as is the case in Hugo’s novels. Collins’ portrayal of Fantine is sprightly and full of optimism — making it all the more heart-wrenching as her bleak future comes to pass. Cosette (Ellie Bamber) is also given more backstory, and we see the truer evil of the Thénardiers (Adeel Akhtar and Olivia Colman), as opposed to the more cartoonish depiction in the 2013 movie. As grumpy Les Mis purists, we’re actually looking forward to this adaptation.
You can watch the trailer below. Les Misérables will air on BBC’s Masterpiece on PBS in 2019.