Trailer Park: "Les Miserables" Aims To Bring A Dying Genre Back To Theaters

Once a staple of the movie industry, the musical genre has fallen on hard times over the past few decades. Some examples like Chicago and Moulin Rouge wound up being successful recently, but overall, studios tend to believe that audiences want explosions and action rather than vibrant musical numbers. Those executives might be right, but that's not stopping director Tom Hooper (The King's Speech) from trying to bring one of Broadway's longest-running musicals to the big screen:Les Misérables.

Starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, and Amanda Seyfried, the debut teaser trailer from this movie doesn't try to trick audiences into believing that it's something that it's not. Right away, Hathaway's voice blasts through the speakers like an unabashed song of triumph that the musical has returned to the screen. From there, the trailer goes to a series of quick cuts that introduce us to different characters and situations at a rapid-fire pace.

This footage won't help people unfamiliar with the musical to understand what's going on, but there is a tone and atmosphere established that should appeal to people that won't step foot in a Broadway theater. The cast is great and the director is an inspired choice, but it remains to be seen whether or not audiences will respond to a musical of this scale. 

Les Misérables will hit theaters on December 14.