We’re starting to get our first taste of this year’s Oscar bait (finally!) with trailers for the December releases Hyde Park on Hudson and The Great Gatsby hitting the web earlier this month, and now this week we have the first teaser trailer for the latest adaptation of the beloved stage musical Les Miserables. The film is directed by Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) and stars Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and Amanda Seyfried along with Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen. Les Mis has been adapted for the screen a number of times before, most notably with Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman and Claire Danes starring in a 1998 version.

The story takes place in France in the early 1800s with Jean Valjean (Jackman), a man imprisoned for stealing bread, having been released on parole 20 years later. Police Inspector Javert (Crowe) becomes determined to put him back behind bars again, all set against the backdrop of the 1832 June Rebellion in Paris. The first trailer features Anne Hathaway singing “I Dreamed a Dream” while getting her hair chopped off. It looks suitably melodramatic, but will Tom Hooper bring anything new to the table? Les Miserables hits theatres on December 14th; check out the trailer after the jump and see what you think.