Les Misérables Film Soundtrack Nabs No. 1 Slot on Billboard 200 Chart

By Adam Hetrick
January 9, 2013

The single-disc highlights soundtrack of Tom Hooper's acclaimed film of Les Misèrables has placed No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, according to Billboard.com.

With 92,000 copies sold, "Les Misèrables: Highlights From the Motion Picture Soundtrack" is the first soundtrack to nab the No. 1 spot since "The Hunger Games" premiered last spring. Prior to that, the 2009 film of "Hanna Montana" was the last movie musical to land in the top slot.

While the Les Misèrables soundtrack did see a decline in sales this past week of 32 percent, it still beat out the Mumford & Sons album "Babel" (which saw a 34 percent uptick in sales) to take the No. 1 spot.

The 20-track album was released by Universal Republic on Dec. 21, 2012. The album features live vocals recorded on set during the filming of the epic musical.

The cast, including Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and Aaron Tveit, recorded all of their singing live during filming, listening to piano accompaniment through a hidden earpiece. A 70-piece orchestra later gathered in London to record the full orchestrations that are featured in the film and on the soundtrack.

The movie also includes the new song "Suddenly" for Jean Valjean (Jackman) to sing. Producer Cameron Mackintosh previously told Playbill.com that the song "was something that Alain and Claude-Michel came up with, after a passage in the book, which beautifully explains what happens when [Valjean] takes Cosette from the inn and looks after her. Herbie's written a lovely lyric to it, and we're all delighted how it seems to fit into the film version."

The film, which arrived Christmas Day, stars Jackman as Valjean; Crowe as Javert; Hathaway as Fantine; Tveit as Enjolras; Helena Bonham Carter as Madame Thenardier; Amanda Seyfried as Cosette; Eddie Redmayne as Marius; Samantha Barks as Eponine; George Blagden as student Grantaire; Sacha Baron Cohen as Thenardier; and Daniel Huttlestone as child-hero Gavroche.

The track listing follows:

"Look Down" (Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and The Convicts)
"The Bishop" (Colm Wilkinson)
"Valjean's Soliloquy" (Hugh Jackman)
"At the End of the Day" (Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, The Factory Girls and Cast)
"I Dreamed a Dream" (Anne Hathaway)
"The Confrontation" (Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway)
"Castle On a Cloud" (Isabelle Allen)
"Master of the House" (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter)
"Suddenly" (Hugh Jackman)
"Stars" (Russell Crowe)
"ABC Cafe/Red and Black" (Eddie Redmayne, Aaron Tveit and Cast)
"In My Life"/"A Heart Full of Love" (Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Samantha Barks)
"On My Own" (Samantha Barks)
"One Day More" (Cast)
"Drink With Me" (Eddie Redmayne, Daniel Huttlestone and Cast)
"Bring Him Home" (Hugh Jackman)
"The Final Battle" (Cast)
"Javert's Suicide" (Russell Crowe)
"Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" (Eddie Redmayne)
"Epilogue" (Amanda Seyfriend, Hugh Jackman, Eddie Redmayne, Anne Hathaway, Colm Wilkinson and Cast)