‘Les Miserables': BBC, Weinstein Team Up for 6-Part TV Adaptation
By Tony Maglio
Les Miserables is headed to the small-screen, thanks to the BBC, Weinsteins and screenwriter Andrew Davies.
The new six-part, six-hour adaptation of Victor Hugo’s classic novel Les Mis will be a BBC Studios and Lookout Point co-production for BBC One, in association with Weinstein Television. Davies, Bethan Jones, Faith Penhale, Simon Vaughan, and Harvey Weinstein are executive producers. The project was commissioned by Charlotte Moore and Lucy Richer.
BBC Worldwide will distribute Les Miserables globally, with the exception of the U.S. and China, where Weinstein Television has the rights. Harvey’s company also holds an option for Canada.
The original book and its several adaptations tell the story of Jean Valjean, a former convict unable to escape the shadow of his past life, and his relentless pursuit by the chilling police officer Javert.
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“Andrew Davies’ extraordinary skill for adaptation will bring the world famous Les Misérables into powerful focus for a modern audience with a multi-layered re-telling of Victor Hugo’s masterpiece,” Moore, Director of BBC Content said. “BBC One viewers can expect the same quality and scale from the team behind War & Peace in this epic tale of redemption and the healing power of love.”
“Les Misérables is a huge iconic title. Most of us are familiar with the musical version which only offers a fragmentary outline of its story,” Davies added. “I am thrilled to have the opportunity of doing real justice to Victor Hugo at last by adapting his masterpiece in a six hour version for the BBC, with the same team who made War & Peace.”
“Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables is one of the greatest novels of all time — and while the musical is one of my favorites this will be completely different,” Harvey Weinstein stated. “An intense and serious drama that will find contemporary relevance to what’s going on in the world today.”
“I’m thrilled to be reunited with Faith Penhale and Simon Vaughan, my partners from War & Peace, with Charlotte Moore from the BBC, and of course, with Andrew Davies who wrote War & Peace,” he continued. “I think the BBC and Weinstein Television collaboration are a new paradigm in the telling of classics — they’re modern and yet respectful. And, with the exception of James Bond, nobody does it better than Andrew Davies.”
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