'Les Miserables: Highlights From The Motion Picture Soundtrack' Will Be Released In The US On December 25, 2012

New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Once in a lifetime a musical transcends its genre and becomes a legend. Les Misérables, the beloved global stage sensation, seen by more than 60 million people in 42 countries and in 21 languages around the world is still breaking box-office records everywhere in its 28th year. In January 2012, the world's longest-running musical brings its power to the big screen. Hugh Jackman, Oscar winner Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway lead an all-star cast in the motion-picture adaptation of a musical phenomenon. Helmed by The King's Speech's Academy Award-winning director, Tom Hooper, the Working Title/Cameron Mackintosh production also stars Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Aaron Tveit and Samantha Barks, with Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen. The highlights from the soundtrack provide the perfect accompaniment to the musical epic and will be released through Republic Records on December 25th. The film opens in cinemas across the US on December 25th.

Hooper's sweeping and spectacular interpretation of Victor Hugo's epic tale breaks new ground in allowing the cast the spontaneity of singing live during filming, rather than singing to playback. This is the first time such a technique has been employed in a major feature film and, in Hooper's words, has "a profound effect on the power and realism of the story."

Set against the backdrop of 19th-century France, Les Misérables tells an enthralling story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption—a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit. Jackman plays ex-prisoner Jean Valjean, hunted for decades by the ruthless policeman Javert (Crowe) after he breaks parole. When Valjean agrees to care for factory worker Fantine's (Hathaway) young daughter, Cosette, their lives change forever.

With its story's bands of the disenfranchised joining together to challenge corruption and demand change, Hugo's 150-year-old tale that inspired the world's longest-running musical has never been timelier. Now, Les Misérables brings its power to the big screen in Hooper's interpretation of this classic epic. With international superstars and beloved songs - including "I Dreamed a Dream," "Bring Him Home," "One Day More" and "On My Own" - the show of shows is reborn as the cinematic musical experience of a lifetime.