Photo Flash: Ad Deja Vu! When LES MIS Was First Gunning for Screen...

Les Miserables will hit the big screen later this year, featuring an all-star cast including Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean, Russell Crowe tasJavert, Sacha Baron Cohen as Thernardier, Eddie Redmayne as Marius, Aaron Tveit as Enjolras, Anne Hathaway as Fantine, Helena Bonham Carter as Madame Thenardier, the opera-trained Mamma Mia! film star Amanda Seyfried as Cosette and Samantha Barks as Eponine. 

Interested in a blast from the past?  Check out this old ad from the early 1990s when the first plans to adapt the musical for the screen materialized (Samantha Barks was just 2!).  Tri-Star Pictures held the rights several decades ago and Alan Parker was set to direct.  Filming was set to commence in January of 1991, however plans were scrapped, as it was believed a screen adaptation would cut into live theater attendence, and sales were still strong. 

Non-musical film versions of Les Mis were subsequently released in 1995 and 1998. 

Check out the ad circa 1991 below!