MUMBAI: Russell Crowe is in talks to star opposite Hugh Jackman in Les Miserables, Universal and Working Title‘s big-screen musical adaptation to be directed by Tom Hooper. The film has been set for a 7 December, 2012 release.

In addition, Helena Bonham Carter, who starred in Hooper‘s The King Speech, is also in talks for an important role in the film.
 
Crowe will play Javert, the uncompassionate police inspector who will stop at nothing to recapture Jean Valjean (Jackman), the man who steals bread to feed his sister and spends the ensuing years in prison (or trying to escape it) while also becoming the guardian of a young woman named Cosette.
 
The story is set against the backdrop of a 19th century French rebellion. Carter would play Thenardier‘s greedy wife.
William Nicholson wrote the script and the movie will use Claude-Michel Schoenberg‘s score from the beloved musical, which is based on the Victor Hugo book.