The stars of the original Les Miserables London stage show are set to join Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Taylor Swift and Russell Crowe in director Tom Hooper’s blockbuster movie update.
Colm Wilkinson and Frances Ruffelle, who played Jean Valjean and Eponine onstage at the Barbican in 1985 and later transferred to Broadway, have landed speaking roles in the new film, which starts pre-production next week.
According to the Daily Mail, Wilkinson will play the Bishop of Digne and Ruffelle a whore.

Sergio Mendes, who scored an Oscar nomination for his song Real In Rio, says the animated film will most likely have a sequel. Mendes said Rio director Carlos Saldanha may want to tie the sequel to the 2014 World Cup, which will take place in Brazil. “I think the plan is for the movie to come three or four months before the World Cup,” Mendes said Tuesday afternoon. “Fox has been talking about (it) and it looks like it’s going to happen,” he continued. “We’re going to have a meeting I think next week and Carlos is coming to town to tell us the story, and it looks like it’s a go.” Fox said in an email Wednesday that the “success of the first film was the start of a franchise,” but added that “no script or deals” are in place.

Christmas might be over, but the Batman-related pressies just keep on coming, with Anne Hathaway breaking Chris Nolan’s traditional wall of silence in order to give us an update on what we can expect from The Dark Knight Rises.
“Gotham City is full of grace,” says Hathaway. “You look at Heath’s performance as the Joker, there was a lot of madness there but there was also a grace and he had a code there. There’s a lot of belief and codes of behavior in Gotham and my character has one, too. A lot of the way she moves and interacts with people is informed by her worldview. Chris has given us all such complex, defined, sophisticated worldviews that it’s just a matter of doing your homework and getting underneath the character’s skin.”
“I really got into the comics after I was cast,” she continues, “and I like that when she made her first appearance she meets Bruce Wayne and says ‘Let go of me or I’ll claw your eyes out,’ and he says, ‘Careful, claws in or papa spank’. So I’m glad we’ve come a long way since then. I’m not saying anything against Bob Kane, though!”
And speaking of previous incarnations of the character, Hathaway isn’t remotely concerned by comparisons to Michelle Pfeiffer et al.
“What’s come before doesn’t limit or even affect this new version,” she says. “It doesn’t affect me because each Catwoman – and this is true in the comics as well – she is defined by the context of the Gotham City created around her. Catwoman is so influenced by Gotham and whoever is creating Gotham at the time. Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman was informed by Tim Burton’s Gotham and Eartha Kitt was informed by Adam West’s Gotham. You have to live in whatever the reality of the world is and whatever Gotham is.”
Still more intriguing is the description of a scene that precedes the interview in the LA Times. Eyes away now if you don’t want to know what happens…
“Gotham City is a war zone,” begins the description. “A ruthless madman named Bane has ripped away any sense of security and the citizens, haggard and clutching suitcases with refugee anxiety, sit behind barbed wire waiting to see what will blow up next. A hooded prisoner is dragged in – it’s Bruce Wayne, one of Gotham’s most famous faces – but the eyes of the crowd go instead to the woman in black standing at the top of the staircase.”
“‘Sorry to spoil things, boys, but Bane needs these guys himself,’ says sultry Selina Kyle, played here by actress Anne Hathaway, navigating the steps with stiletto heels that, on closer inspection, turn out to have serrated edges capable of leaving nasty claw marks in a fight. She also wears high-tech goggles that, when not in use, flip up and resemble feline ears.”
So Bane and Catwoman are working together? Make of that what you will. The Dark Knight Rises is released in the UK on 20 July 2012.

New Catwoman Anne Hathaway based her performance in the latest Batman movie on Hedy Lamarr, the glamorous 1940s film star who first inspired the character. The Devil Wears Prada star is the latest actress to take on the role of the Caped Crusader’s feline nemesis, following in the footsteps of Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt and Michelle Pfeiffer, in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming The Dark Knight Rises. Hathaway has now revealed she went back to the character’s roots for her portrayal, basing her performance on late Hollywood legend Lamarr, who was cited as the inspiration for Catwoman by comic book artist Bob Kane. She tells the Los Angeles Times, “I know this sounds odd, but her breathing is extraordinary. She takes these long, deep, languid breaths and exhales slowly. There’s a shot of her in (1933 film) Ecstasy exhaling a cigarette and I took probably five breaths during her one exhale. So I started working on my breathing a lot.” Hathaway also admits she isn’t fazed by stepping into such a famous role as each actress to have played Catwoman gave the character their own unique stamp. She adds, “What’s come before doesn’t limit or even affect this new version. It doesn’t affect me because each Catwoman – and this is true in the comics as well – she is defined by the context of the Gotham City created around her… Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman was informed by Tim Burton’s Gotham and Eartha Kitt was informed by Adam West’s Gotham. You have to live in whatever the reality of the world is and whatever Gotham is.”

Les Miserables will be shot in 2-D so viewers don’t “physically struggle”. Director Tom Hooper – who won an Oscar for his work on The King’s Speech – was “tempted” to use 3-D technology in the forthcoming blockbuster but decided against it because he wanted to make a film that would “connect with everyone”. He told the BBC: “I can definitely announce it’s good old-fashioned 2-D. “I did test 3-D and I was very tempted – I think it is a very interesting new form. “One of the things I’m most proud of with ‘The King’s Speech’ is how it managed to connect with everyone, whether you’re eight or 80 years old. “So I slightly worry with 3-D that some people will physically struggle with it. If you have a certain type of eyesight it can be more demanding than watching a normal movie. “With a two-and-a-half hour film, I didn’t want to make something that anyone might think ‘That’s not for me, because I don’t like the medium’.” Tom believes the movie – which will star Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway – is strong enough not to need 3-D technology. He added: “I wanted to make a film that would touch everyone. I believe the story is so strong, 3-D is not essential.” The filmmaker is thrilled that such huge actors are desperate to land a role in the movie. He said: “I’ve never done a film where big star actors are as obsessed with being in it as this.”

Anne Hathaway has a ritzy new home in New York – the actress and her new fiance have moved into an apartment in the exclusive One Main Clocktower Building. The Brokeback Mountain star and actor Adam Shulman took up residency in the luxury Brooklyn building in December, according to Life & Style magazine. A neighbour tells the publication, “They looked adorable together.”

Anne Hathaway is engaged. The One Day actress’ boyfriend of three years, Adam Shulman, recently popped the question with a Kwiat Heritage engagement ring, her rep confirmed to US Weekly. The couple started dating in 2008 following Anne’s split from Raffaello Follieri, after he pled guilty to 14 counts of money laundering, conspiracy and wire fraud and Anne recently revealed Adam “ruined” her plan of staying single. She explained: “We hit if off immediately but it took us a pretty long time to get together. He thought that I had a boyfriend and I thought that he had a girlfriend, so I thought that I’d better keep my distance because I didn’t want to be that girl. “Mellow doesn’t always make for a good story, but it makes for a good life. “I am very much in love with him, [only] Adam totally ruined my plan. I was really actually looking forward to a little alone time, and then I fell in love like a fool!” Anne – who had previously been against the idea of getting married – revealed she changed her mind about the institution after witnessing her best friend walk down the aisle. She said: “I am open to marriage, actually. I just went through a phase where I wanted to look at it from every angle to make sure that I wasn’t just falling in step with some kind of prescribed fantasy. “I was at my best friend’s wedding recently, and I watched this person who I love like a sister, and who has changed my life and continues to change my life for the better, who I feel as close to as I do my family, commit herself to a man who she loves, and I watched how happy it made her. “I mean, she looked like she was riding a bubble the whole night. I thought, ‘Weddings are important because they celebrate life and possibility.’ “