Tahar Rahim and Camille Cottin reunite in an explosive version of Les Misérables
A new version of Les Misérables is in the works, and it promises to be a milestone. Five-star casting, electric staging: here’s what we know.
Fred Cavayé reinvents Victor Hugo in a fresco of flesh and rage
It’s an audacious gamble: to adapt Victor Hugo ‘s Les Misérables to the year 2026. Director Fred Cavayé, known for his sense of rhythm and tension(Mea Culpa, À bout portant), has taken up the challenge. Produced by StudioCanal, the project is both modern and faithful to the soul of the text. An adaptation shot between Paris and Bordeaux, conceived as a cinematic fresco between lyricism and brutality, heir as much to Hugo as to the contemporary thriller.
The story, still centered on Jean Valjean’s redemption andJavert’s obsession, will be read in a nervous, embodied way, in contrast to overly academic retellings. Fred Cavayé wants to make Les Misérables a work of impact, a visceral tragedy for a world on its last legs.
A fiery cast led by Lindon, Rahim and Cottin
To bring this extraordinary project to life, the production has assembled an exceptional cast:
- Vincent Lindon is Jean Valjean, the central, tragic figure.
- Tahar Rahim plays a rigid, implacable Javert, the perfect counterpoint.
- Camille Cottin and Benjamin Lavernhe play the grotesque, cruel Thenardiers.
- Noémie Merlant will play Fantine, an icon of social collapse.
- Vassili Schneider plays Marius, torn between politics and passion.
- Megan Northam and Marie Colomb complete the picture.
A heavy heritage, a necessary reinvention
Since 1862, Les Misérables has had a thousand faces: from Raymond Bernard ‘s film (1934 ) to Tom Hooper‘s musical blockbuster (2012) and the BBC mini-series (2019). Cavayé’s new chapter reaffirms the power of this text today. Because, at heart, Les Misérables is still about us, our exclusion, our struggles, our dented humanity.
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