But this time, they were venturing out together on this journey independently, as Webber’s company had bought the rights to the stage play from Warner Bros.
Webber, who was apparently a fan of The Lost Boys, knew from the very beginning that the director he wanted to adapt his melodramatic masterpiece of the live theatre was Joel Schumacher.Įven after the project was shelved for decades (originally, the film was supposed to star both Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman, but Webber’s divorce from Brightman was the first speed bump that slowed production on the Phantom film), miraculously, both Schumacher and Webber stayed committed to bringing the theatrical sensation to life on the big screen, plus they also remained close friends over the years, and eventually the stars aligned in 2002 for the Phantom filmic adaptation to move forward. bought the rights for the stage play from Webber and promised him that he’d have creative control over the project (which the studio made good on nearly 15 years later). Starring Gerard Butler (as the titular phantasm), Emmy Rossum (as Christine), and Patrick Wilson (as a very fresh-faced Raoul), Phantom of the Opera (2004)’s road to the big screen first began back in the late 1980s when Warner Bros. Phantom 2004 may not be the most accurate take on the material from Leroux’s story, but it is most definitely a brilliant cinematic rendering of Webber’s musical, and I will always defend it to the bitter end, even its less-than-amazing parts (which are few and far between).
In terms of what Joel Schumacher and Andrew Lloyd Webber set out to create with their collaborative efforts on bringing the stage play iteration of Phantom of the Opera to the big screen, to me, they not only succeeded, but they also managed to supersede any lofty expectations I might have had for it nearly 16 years ago when it was first released in theaters. Many of its critics faulted this version for being too faithful to the cultural phenomenon that is Webber’s crowning achievement in live theatre, but honestly, this wasn’t ever going to be the gothic horror show from Gaston Leroux’s original novel, and I’m not sure why anyone ever expected any differently from this rendition.
Originally, I was holding off on digging into Joel Schumacher’s 2004 adaptation of Phantom of the Opera until later on in this series, but with his passing a few months ago, I thought that it only made sense to make the next installment of my Phantom Thread series a celebration of Schumacher’s lavish and ostentatious adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, showering it with all the adulation that it has always deserved.
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