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BREAKING: Universal Pictures has pushed its musical Les Miserables from December 14 to December 25. The studio made the move after getting the cut by The King’s Speech helmer Tom Hooper and feeling the film was appropriate for a Christmas Day opener, particularly after Ang Lee’s Life Of Pi and Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby moved off that date. Life Of Pi will open November 21 through Fox, and Gatsby was pushed back until next year.
It opens against Guilt Trip, Parental Guidance and Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained. December 21 is crazy-competitive, bringing Monsters Inc 3D; Judd Apatow’s This Is 40; Kathryn Bigelow’s hunt-for-bin Laden pic Zero Dark Thirty; and Jack Reacher, the Christopher McQuarrie-directed adaptation of the Lee Child novel series that stars Tom Cruise. And don’t forgot Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which opens December 14, and which Universal obviously wanted no part of with Les Miserables. This is going to be a great year end for moviegoers, but some of these films are going to be casualties of the bloodbath.
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i reliable source told me that Warner Bros plans to move THE HOBBIT part 1 on 25th of December for the same reason…..Universal must be joking
“Jack Reacher” is going to be the fatality. They should have stuck with “One Shot” at the title. Going up against these powerhouse films is going to be tough for this Tom Cruise movie. The hard-core Reacher fans are pissed off about his casting, and the people who haven’t read the books, are going to be as confused as they were when John Carter was coming out. I think Paramount should move “Jack Reacher” to January. It’s not like it is going to be up for any awards.
What’s the rating on Les Mis? (subtext: Will Annie be naked?)
PG-13, and go rent Havoc.
I’m thinking PG-13, posssssssssibly PG depending on edits. They want/need a family audience if they’re going to make money on this project.
Looks like a smart move to me. Let the “bloodbath” happen earlier in the week. It’s true that people are on break and vacation before the 25th but they’re often too crazy busy to go to the movies most particularly families. This will give it more time to course through the post-Christmas holidays ideally continuing on through January and nomination season. Done well it could get global huge. Great date movie, potentially a great family movie, worldwide appeal with the international hit show the Broadway version of an advance in terms of audience awareness. Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman, but especially Anne Hathaway after the sadness of “Batman” distracted from a really great turn, all deserve a hit. And this is a great cast. Amanda Seyfried too. (Aurora was not good for Tom Hardy also unfortunately bearing in mind that careers are immaterial in light of such horror show events.) “The Great Gatsby” move makes sense too as the original chronicles the travails of characters trampling hot summer lawns in the quest of cool refreshment. As for “Jack Reacher” it will get the globally disenfranchised through the same old shorthand of character X “action.” I know it’s an Obama word from right after his first election – but it fits! Go figure, you know?
Hmmmm….Watch Les Mis on Christmas day, or the Doctor Who Christmas special. Decisions, Decisions.
Hope it’s a really great film like Norman Jewison’s “Fiddler On the Roof” and Carol Reed’s “Oliver!” irrespective of being a musical. It’s a good question about the rating. When “Oliver!” opened it was rated “G” for general audiences. Families made it a point of going. Today it would be rated “PG-13″ for “scenes of child abduction, excessive tavern drinking, a severe beating (Nancy;) and one graphic hanging (Bill Sykes.)” What exactly happened since 1968? Children would have been denied lifelong lessons. If it’s possible (in terms of content – even if there’s nudity) they should hit middle school group parties (at least) in January as a backdrop to the Christmas opening.
Needs to be pro-active that this is just as good, better, than the Kool-Aid animation stuff that families rush to. The families will rush to that stuff first out of habit so the Christmas release date is smart. Oughta blanket the singing shows, “Glee,” “Modern Family,” etc. Shows that all ages enjoy. Perhaps skip the edits and try to squeak by with a PG. And make the point. Dark doesn’t necessarily make something not for family audiences. Maybe hold your real exponential powder until after the holidays after seeing how things go first. The Disney classics are all quite dark. Sins of the flesh…are fanboys’ favorite kind too! If a film has a great overall message, how is that not for all ages? That message is no different than the message of superhero movies in my opinion. Has to be good of course. But it’s certainly relevant in terms of current events in all kinds of ways. Another example of how big movies like this…are just dumped into these vapid rooms with stadium seating and the projectionist a timer. Showcasing such ambitious efforts is very problematic in the exhibition climate that the new century has inherited from the former chase-the-dragon business model. The film looks great though in all the best old-fashioned ways.
Am I alone in seeing this as only a modest hit at best (and that’s if it’s good)? With all the other competition, I just don’t see this grabbing much of an audience beyond mostly women over 40 — and that’s if they aren’t taking their kids to see The Hobbit, their grandkids to see Monsters Inc., going to This is 40 with their girlfriends, or seeing Zero Dark Thirty, Jack Reacher and/or Django Unchained with their husbands/partners.
Don’t underestimate the demos that support the beloved LesMis!
In the Fandango survey which voted Twilight -Breaking Dawn 2 as the most anticipated movie, 49% of the respondents voted that the best Oscar hopes go to Les Miserables (presumably voted for by the same young female demos which also voted for Twilight). And have you seen the many school productions and amateur karaoke takes on songs like On My Own or wannabe Marius’es on YouTube? When the role of Eponine was supposed to go to Taylor Swift there was universal outrage especially among the young people that the role of the much-idolized Eponine is going to the wrong actress/performer! I doubt the older demos would have cared to register such a disapproval!
The musical is universally well-loved and continues to tour these days, albeit it is more than 25 years old. And some fans have seen the musical so many times that it sounds almost incredible. One of the most amazing things shared by Tom Hooper was his meeting of the Japanese distributor of the movie who said he was honored to do so, for a musical he has seen only 65 times – although if it has a long run in Japan, he may very well try to duplicate the feat for the movie. LOL!
Yup, you must be. There are already quite a few film versions of Les Miserables out already, but as far as musical bits go this one will out-strip the rest. Considering that I have been surrounded by the theatre since I was a kid may have helped spur my interest, but even without it I would’ve found Les Miserables to be an extremely moving, inspiring piece. I know that I’m looking forward to it–Hell, I was looking forward to it coming out on the 14th so that I’d be able to spend all day at the theater for this and Hobbit back-to-back…Now, I might have to wait until the day after….Plans are still in progress. And FYI, I’m nowhere NEAR my 40s yet–still have a good 15-20 years to go. Don’t go clumping people into groups based on age/gender/etc because let me tell you buddy-boy, you have no bloody clue what our interests are. Only 2 films I’ve got plans to see this holiday season are Les Miserables and Hobbit….As far as I’m concerned all the other films can go hang themselves.
I was going to point out that you were wrong by using myself as an example of someone who wants to see it, and then I remembered that I am a 40-yr old woman.
That being said, the marketing / trailers for the movie have been great so far and I think this has the potential to be a movie with appeal to families, teens and 20-somethings.
Not sure how well men will respond – again I can’t use myself as an example sincee my husband was in show choir in high school and knows more words to Les Miz songs than I do.
The Xmas season is crazy crowded though. I’d probably pick Django Unchained over Les Miz to see first and will have to fit The Hobbit and Zero Dark Thirty in as well. Jack Reacher is going to be crushed. Trailer looks awful and Tom Cruise is SO miscast.
Correction, please. I meant ” for a musical that he has seen only 65 times” – although if it has a long run in Japan, he may very well try to duplicate the feat for the movie. LOL!
Can’t wait for Jack Reacher – hope it’s brilliant
Well, let’s break it down. The Hobbit is the big guaranteed hit. Jack Reacher is no Mission: Impossible and with a crowded field it will likely do Knight and Day business or a bit less. Zero Dark Thirty won’t be big out of the gate by any means, just look at other politically-themed military thrillers (Body of Lies, Green Zone, etc., and those had stars).
This is 40 won’t be a big Apatow hit, no high concept, older audience target, but with good reviews it’ll do better than Funny People (definitely $100 million though). Monsters Inc. 3D will do the same as all the other Pixar re-releases and won’t affect other movies that much.
On Christmas Day, Django Unchained will be the big opening and will outgun Les Mis easily. Phantom of the Opera is better known that Les Mis but did very modest business. But also had no stars. (Crowe won’t pull people but Jackman and Hathaway will.) So despite living in Django’s shadow it will get enough families to be modestly successful.
Definitely *under* 100 mil for This is 40, I meant.
Excellent analysis T.J. and all very true if not very problematic. My contention is that they gotta spin the promotional and exhibition plates through January not just dump it not the least of which is because nobody will be watching TV – they may all be at these movies in the exact configurations that you describe. There was a time when this would have been a great Christmas Day opening before exhibitors would started pushing you out after a couple or three weeks because you’re not making bail. As you know Christmas Day has those unique challenges because of the low rating re-run factor around the holidays. A talk show appearance two weeks before opening day…is a long time ago today especially with something requiring a change-up in typical contemporary movie-going habits. If it’s good, you gotta treat it as special; a unique movie event requiring kid gloves and promotion with a global through-the-white-noise-focussing effect. That’s my opinion at any rate. Promoting Oscar winner Tom Hooper’s first film after “The King’s Speech” can’t/won’t hurt either. One thing it definitely does have going for it is that it has completely unique characteristics compared to the rest of the holiday fare…and it’s a big, ambitious movie and not a “Hobbit” – style twofer series. Series can be a drag I think; a psychological investment in promotion over a period of years starting with the announcement. (The way it starts I thought the trailer for “The Hobbit” [I've only seen one] was literally a parody of something. Didn’t make me want to see it in the slightest. And I’m an easy sell.)
OR…
…you got the movie version of “Phantom” on your hands.