As musical extravaganza Les Miserables inches towards the big screen waving a tricolour over its head and whooping in a vaguely French accent, our excitement levels surge. Tom Hooper’s adaptation of Victor Hugo’s classic novel promises big tunes, tense drama, romance and the kind of old-school Hollywood spectacle not seen since the heyday of MGM and RKO.

These new pics from the film have come to light over at USA Today. They offer more of the intimicacy than the spectacle of Hooper’s movie, but show Hugh Jackman’s reinvented crim Jean Valjean, Russell Crowe as pitiless lawman Javert, and Anne Hathaway as Joan of Arc lookalike Fantine, a woman forced to work as a prostitute and sell her hair to provide for her young daughter Cosette.

In the spirit of the stage musical, all of the film’s dialogue is sung. Susan Boyle fans - and surely that’s all of us - will want to know that ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ duties will fall to Hathaway. Here’s hoping Crowe gets to cover at least one 30 Odd Foot Of Grunts track.

Les Miserables is out on January 11, 2013. Head over to USA Today for a closer look at these and other stills from the movie.