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Universal opened its big holiday musical Les Misérables first overseas this weekend before it hits North America on Christmas Day. The studio said it grossed $1M at 348 dates in Japan as the #1 Hollywood film. That’s well ahead of the competition The Hobbit (now in its second week of release abroad) and #3 Skyfall (in its 3rd week of release abroad). Les Miz is #2 overall in Japan behind a local animated film. Universal boasts the musical’s opening day grosses there are at the same level as the opening day of Mamma Mia! which was a worldwide blockbuster with $465.7M internatonal. Les Miz is also beating The Hobbit in Korea which is holding paid previews this weekend. The first four days will outgross the first five days of Mamma Mia!. Les Miz opens in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Spain on Christmas Day, followed by Australia on Boxing Day, and Hungary on December 27th. The rest of the international markets will release in 2013 including the UK and Ireland on January 11th. Meanwhile, iTunes and Amazon report that first day of sales jumped Les Miz to the #1 soundtrack and the #3 album in iTunes. “I Dreamed A Dream” is the #1 Soundtrack Song and #1 “Movers & Shakers” on Amazon.
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Interesting how a musical is besting a big budget effects bonanza. I found The Hobbit to be a waste of three hours of my life, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Les Miz and Django Unchained take it to the cleaners next week.
2 huge productions might beat the Hobbit in week 3? Such a bold prediction.
@Miserable Hobbit – Yeah i’m actually expecting both “Django Unchained” & “Les Miserables” to overtake “The Hobbit” next week with ease. If “The Hobbit” was performing stronger at the box office i might have thought differently, but it’s already on pace to drop down in the low 30 mil range in only it’s second weekend. I expect both “Django” & “Les” to open in the 25-35 mil range next weekend.
Agree wholeheartedly. Found The Hobbit a bloated, boring mess. It’s being beat by a MUSICAL! And not even an upbeat, happy musical. As I said in a previous post, The Hobbit may well do brilliant B.O. in it’s first weeks but the drop, mainly due to lousy word of mouth will stop that PDQ.
LES MISERABLES is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. A giant overblown disaster.
Well, you’re an idiot. You probably wouldn’t recognize a masterpiece even if you were in one.
If you didn’t like the movie of Les Miz then you didn’t like the stage musical. Those of us who revere this masterpiece, and it is loved around the world, were amazed, stunned and moved to tears by the film, its fine performances, direction and amazing music. Sorry you didn’t like it!
Just wait until moviegoers realize that Russell Crowe attended the Pierce Brosnan school of singing. They’ll be clamoring for short little men with hairy feet.
He’s not that bad. NOTHING is that bad.
I know how important the director has said that everyone was recorded live with no dubbing.
Will other singers using different languages be dubbed over this? Or are only subtitles applied?
Musicals are never dubbed, except for the spoken parts. Considered Les Miserábles is sung througout, it’ll only be subtitled.
Not always true. The 2004 Phantom of the Opera film was dubbed in several languages. You can watch the whole movie (including beautifully-translated songs) in French and Spanish on the U.S. release DVD, and I know it’s in a host of other languages as well. Les Mis was recorded live so that the actors wouldn’t be “locked in” to their vocal performance while on camera, having the freedom to perform it as if on stage. It would have been too difficult to dub only because there was virtually NO spoken dialogue. (That “sing talk” stuff would be nearly impossible to translate, have another actor sing, and still retain the proper emotion).
Based on French trailers, songs were subtitled and the few spoken sentences were dubbed. so I guess it’ll be the same in the movie because it’d sound even more ridiculous if songs were dubbed, but I guess some moviegoers might be taken aback, the mainstream French audiences don’t like subtitles that much.
You mean just like the mainstream American audiences (don’t like subtitles that much)?
Yeah kinda, generally speaking northern Europeans (Germany, Scandinavia,…) are quite fluent in English, whereas southerners (France, Italy, Spain, Greece) are more reluctant to learn foreign languages. But things are changing, English is now being taught in elementary schools almost everywhere on the continent.
People are really really excited to see Les Miserables!
It will open big here! Everyone I have talked to is planning
on seeing it Christmas Day
I don’t know a single person who didn’t love the Hobbit wholeheartedly. It’ll be consistently huge for the next few weeks because it’s a wonderful film. Not sure what film you tired, soulless cynics saw. Pity.
The Hobbit is mediocre. The end.
Les Miserables will do very well at the box office and Crowe’s Javert is a strong performance. His singing is quite good. Don’t believe the detractors they have their agendas.
Ah Les Miz. Nothing says Christmas like dying, disease-ridden prostitutes, larceny and civil war. Ho ho ho!
……..And you are clueless.
I died a thousand deaths during Les Miz. Did every actor have to be on the verge of tears during EVERY song? Did Tobe only have a fish-eye lens on hand? And poor Helena Bonham Carter, who has to wear her own clothes. Couldn’t they have made her a costume?
Again, it sounds as though you are totally unfamiliar with Victor Hugo and Les Miz. It is not a comedy. I loved the handheld cameras which put you totally into the film and the live singing. Must you nitpick?
Mr.Hooper, it is a very bad idea to have all tenors in your male cast! When they sing duets or in a chorus we in the audience get white noise accompanied by a musical score. A variety of tones helps us to distinguish the voices and perhaps hear a lyric or two. There were a few stand out performances like Ms.Hathaway and Mr.Jackman, but overall a disappointment for a musical. Granted I’m sure the film will gain a few golden statue from an industry trying to seem cultured, I recall Chicago’s run all too well. I was hoping for better.