The Phantom of the Opera

Genre: Musical/Suspense.

Studio: Warner Brothers.
Production Company: Unknown.

Project Phase: Development Hell.

Who's In It: Unknown.
Who's Making It: Andrew Lloyd Webber (Composer); Charles Hart, Richard Stilgoe (Lyricists); Andrew Lloyd Webber, Richard Stilgoe (Book); Based on the Broadway musical of the same name, adapted from the novel Le Fantome De L'Opera by Gaston Leroux.

Premise: A disfigured madman/genius lives beneath the Opera Populaire in Paris, ruling "his" opera house with a ghostly yet firm grip. He tutors the young soprano Christine Daae, with whom he is infatuated. All is well until the young Vicomte de Chagny, Christine's childhood flame, returns.

Release Date: Late 2000.

Comments: It's big, it's bold, it's plastic yet wonderful--but can it hit the big screen successfully? Also, definitely not to be confused with Dario Argento's recent version, starring Julian Sands. Still, wouldn't it be neat to hear Argento was directing this one? Heh.

Rumors: Unknown.

Scoop Feedback:

[Page draft submitted by the phantom of the Internet, 'Widgett'.]

August 1, 1997... Apparently, this project was supposed to get underway at some point, for Joel Schumacher's name was reportedly attached to direct. The production got as far as getting some sets built before the entire shebang was put on hold due to Webber's divorce from Sarah Brightman.

Michael Crawford is an obvious name to throw out when playing the Phantom, but Newsday reported that John Travolta had been offered the lead role. We can only assume that the "lead role" mentioned is The Phantom and not Raoul. [Scoop submitted by 'Widgett.']

October 2, 1998... Ever since last year the rumors have spread all over the place. Not only is Travolta's name still mentioned in the same breath with the title, but Antonio Banderas has told the Associated Press that he will be in the lead role. In fact, he's gone so far as to say that they don't have a director or a script, but hey, they'll start recording the soundtrack this February, a process which will take three months. He also figures that actual production on the film will begin in late 1999. Banderas has been courting Webber for the role, going so far as to perform musical numbers from the show in public. Could some scooper remind us where this happened?

As for other casting, Kate Winslet has been rumored as a lock for the role of Christine, but nothing official has been announced.

Now, let's talk directors. John Woo -- yes, that John Woo -- has been the most recently bounced about name, but supposedly also in the running are Bruce Beresford, Franco Zeffirelli and Jerry Zucker. [With some information originally appearing on Cinescape Online; reported by Widgett.]

October 16, 1998...'FinnScot' was kind enough to write in and tell us about Banderas' experience with Erik. A viewing of a tape of Webber's birthday bash later, the report is that Banderas performed the title song opposite Sarah Brightman, who created the role of Christine on stage. There were some concerns expressed because the Phantom is "French/British" and not Spanish, but hey, we'll try anything once. We were also assured that the rumors about Robert Rodriguez directing and Salma Hayek playing Christine are untrue. I just love it when the dismissal of the rumors gets to us before the rumors themselves. [Thanks to FinnScot and Jolaris for answering the call.]

And in other news, regarding the Winslet rumor, 'snopjo' had this to say: "[Webber] changed the score of Evita to fit Madonna's vocal range but he has said for [Phatom] that the score will remain intact and he will cast only according to the actors being able to hit his original notes. Kate Winslet is not that good of a singer (I have heard it before on E! in a report on Titanic) and there is no way he will give a role like that to an unproven talent. Besides, that role is precious to him because he wrote it for then wife Sarah Brightman and it was supposed to be a star-maker role for her. Instead, the character of the Phantom (which he has admitted was underwritten)stole the show and all the awards for her. I think he will be very careful in selecting so don't lock Winslet in just yet. As for Antonio Banderas, count on him getting the part although one is left wondering where Michael Crawford stands in all of this." Amigo, we're a rumors site. We don't get locked in on somebody having a role until we've seen the movie and their name is in the credits at the end--and then, we're suspicious. As for Crawford, I guess he stands in a studio, making another 'Greatest Hits' CD or something. [Report filed by 'snopjo']

November 5, 1998... Well, we got an interesting response to our queries regarding the casting of Banderas. Here's Kelly Crawford (no relation we assume) to give us her side of the story:

"I was reading your page on the movie of POTO. First, you asked where Banderas had done public singing. He performed at Andrew Lloyd Webber's birthday bash (which is now available on video). I have seen the performance and was far from impressed. Banderas has even gone so far as to say he has signed a contract, but calls to WB and The Really Useful Group have resulted in their denial that ANY contracts have been signed. Secondly, I'd like to tell you that there is now a not for profit organization dedicated to getting Michael Crawford, the original Phantom, in the lead role of the film. The organization is called The Michael Crawford Phantom Movie Campaign. We are a growing group of Phantom and Crawford fans that are appalled at the idea of putting anyone other than Michael Crawford (who was promised the role to begin with) in this film. We have written, and continue to write, letters to WB, Webber, The Really Useful Group, and anyone else we can think of, as well as celebrities that might agree with us. We also recently held a rally outside of WB Studios' very gates. We have been written up in newspapers across the country and are now working on putting a full page add in Variety Magazine."

Crawford has apparently said that he's a bit hurt at the fact he was snubbed for the role, but says he'd be willing to consider the part, in case any out there is listening in. Webber has confirmed that Banderas is in the role and that shooting would begin in the summer of 1999 (despite WB having no clue about any of this), but as Kelly is quick to point out, Webber's said that before, only with Crawford and then Travolta in the lead role. As Kelly puts it, "He needs to quite seeing dollar signs and look at just how mad he's getting a very large number of people."

Their URL is now listed at the bottom of the page for more info on the campaign and they would like to point out that they are completely independent of Mr. Crawford, his management, or his fan club. Still, I bet he's a happy camper due to the attention. [Thanks to Kelly Crawford and the crew at The MCPMC.]

In other Phantom news, scoopers were quick to write in and defend Ms. Winslet's singing prowess. "...well to let you know, she started out doing musicals on the West End of London. Check that out. Next, check out Heavenly Creatures. You will hear her sing an operatic solo, and you can also hear this on the album. Next, go see Sense and Sensibility. She sings throughout the movie, and it is her voice. In conclusion, not only is Winslet a good singer, but shes a great singer, one who can perform live and certainly as we have seen sound wonderful on screen." [So spake 'jbl7979' and 'xfnight' was in violent agreement]

November 26, 1998... Well, we didn't figure we'd ruffle the feathers of some of our readers when we posted the website that's proposing Michael Crawford don the Phantom's mask for the movie, but that's exactly what we did. We were contacted by Dawn, the person who maintains the The Antonio Banderas Web Mall, which is the site that's leading the charge to get the Antonio Man under the Phantom's cape. "To us Antonio Banderas fans, we believe that Antonio has the skill and the stage persona to carry this movie off well. He is Andrew Lloyd Webber's choice for the lead, and he has auditioned and proven himself a stage singer many times over throughout the years," writes Dawn, making a convincing arguement for her choice. Since we're all for digitial democracy, we agreed to post links for both sites so CA readers can make up their own minds and vote for the star they think would best be the movie Phantom. [Thanks to Dawn for the URL announcement and a special thank you to Kelly Crawford for being courteous.]

While we were getting email from Antonio and his many fans, Crawford's posse took out an ad in the November 16th Variety magazine. All the money for the expensive ad was raised by fans of Crawford, no small feat considering the hefty prices advertising in Variety costs. You can check out the ad for yourself online at www.av.qnet.com/~smf/vteaser.htm . The attention that the ad created netted the TMCPMC organization coverage by the BBC radio network and a mention in an upcoming Entertainment Weekly article. [Kelly Crawford and her friends at the Michael Crawford Campaign HQ are gettin' the word out to Hollywood.]

It's also been rumored that in a Finnish magazine Mr. Banderas has said that he is reconsidering doing this role because of the amount of time he would have to work to get his voice in shape -- and also because of the growing controversy arising on the 'net over which of the two considered men should get cast. As long as open hostilities don't commence, we think the whole Banderas vs. Crawford controversy's been pretty tame, when compared to some of the stuff zealous fans have done in the past... [Thanks to Kelly again.]

Finally, we close today's chapter on the Phantom with this feedback email we received from a reader who's looking at the matter from a Hollywood 'bottom line' viewpoint. Should the makers of the Phantom movie sign a star with proven Hollywood muscle or instead cast an actor who's stage presense and experience outweighs any A-list actor? "Concerning the Michael Crawford campaign... Hollywood will cast movie mtars in The Phantom of the Opera," writes the reader. "The studios don't care what a small number of theatre goers want. They will want someone with cinema charisma and box office appeal to play the title role. ALW's other musicals (on film) have not exactly set the box offices on fire. The powers that be will want to load up with as much star power as possible in the lead. I've never seen him on stage, but on film Michael Crawford left a likeable but light impression in the movies I have seen him in. I see the odds against him getting the part as being astounding. Many see him as the only logical choice. That was the thinking many had when Julie Andrews was passed over for My Fair Lady in favor of Audrey Hepburn. But Hepburn was a film star and at the time Andrews was not." [Commentary submitted by Morris Shaw.]

December 1, 1998... Our last POTO update generated a flurry of emails from numerous shoppers at the Antonio Banderas Web Mall, some with criticism, others with complaints.

Turns out we erred when we said Dawn was the ABWM's owner/operator; actually, that distinction happens to be Kathleen Grant's. Grant made the Mall in 1995 and it's been offering online information about Banderas' upcoming roles ever since.

She also made clear to us that neither she, nor the Mall, is organizing any effort to cast Banderas in the feature version of POTO. They're there to provide a cool URL for his fans, that's it. [We apologize to Kathleen Grant and wish her and her site the best.]

OK, that's settled. Next, we'd like to remove any question that the real Antonio Banderas wrote the scooper credit for November 26th entry. Apparently some people were confused that this tongue-in-cheek attempt at humor was the real deal; in fact, a couple of readers who follow Banderas's star a lot closer than ourselved pointed out the fact that he is online. So to make sure we don't get anyone else's feathers plucked we've removed the confusing credit. Still, we're not speaking for or apologizing for Chris Kattan or his Antonio Banderas impersonation on a recent SNL episode. [You all know who you are.]

Related Sites:

The Michael Crawford Phantom Movie Campaign -- Dedicated in their pursuit to make sure Michael Crawford is cast as the movie Phantom.

The Antonio Banderas Web Mall -- Your one-stop shop for all the latest Banderas information. Sign up to receive a newsletter, download images and sound files from his many films and talk to other fans. Created and maintained by Kathleen Grant.

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