She’s been in Hugh Jackman’s sights for a while now, and her casting was rumoured as far back as August, but it’s official: Anne Hathaway has signed a deal to co-star as Fantine in Tom Hooper’s new take on Les Miserables.
Based on the musical version of Victor Hugo’s novel, Les Miserables will find Jackman playing troubled hero Jean Valjean, a man who finally sees freedom after 19 years of imprisonment. Even as he tries to rebuild his life, he’s constantly hunted by driven lawman Javert (Russell Crowe), who believes he’ll never change his criminal ways.
One of the people Valjean meets along the way is Fantine, a young woman thrown out of his factory after being discovered sending money to her daughter. Taking pity on the ailing woman, Valjean agrees to raise her child, Cosette, an act that years later puts both of them in the centre of a rebellious uprising.
Hathaway will be belting out showstopper I Dreamed A Dream and generally having a tough time of it when King’s Speech director Hooper starts the cameras cranking early next year.