Hugh Jackman eyes "Les Miserables" film

Presenter Hugh Jackman arrives backstage at the 83rd Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, February 27, 2011.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Hugh Jackman is in talks to star in a big-screen musical adaptation of "Les Miserables" for Oscar-winning "King's Speech" director Tom Hooper.

Jackman would play Jean Valjean, 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, all against the backdrop of the French Revolution.

William Nicholson wrote the script. The Working Title/Universal project is based on the Victor Hugo book but best known to millions as one of the longest-running musicals around.

Les Miz, as it's lovably known, would be the first time that Jackman, a singer and dancer with a Tony Award for his role in "The Boy from Oz," would perform on the big screen. The actor was scheduled to reprise his "X-Men" spin-off role as Wolverine in a sequel that was to have shot later this year, but the lack of a director on the project has thrown a wrench into that timetable.