Inside Pulse Movies 2004 Holiday Preview

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Movie: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera
Distributor: Warner Brothers
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: 12.22.2004

We have seen the musical genre in Hollywood releases come a long way in the last few years. Since the release of Moulin Rouge a few years ago, Hollywood has discovered that, when done well, musicals can be huge. After the release of Chicago, Hollywood discovered Moulin Rouge wasn’t a fluke.

So what happens when you discover a new genre is getting it done? Well, make a movie out of the most popular musical of all time.

Phantom of the Opera is probably the most famous and most seen musical worldwide. It is the story of the Paris Opera House and the musical genius that both haunts it, and admires a chorus girl from afar. It has grossed over $3 billion worldwide.

When I first heard that this was going to be made into a movie, which was when I saw the teaser trailer attached to something, I was excited. Here they were taking my favorite musical and committing to the big screen. Finally, a holiday movie I actually wanted to see. The more I have thought about it over time, the more concerned I have become. Granted, the storyline and the musical itself has withstood the test of time. However, this is mostly based on the strength of the original source material (The book by Gaston LeRoux) and the strength of probably the greatest musical writer of the present day (Andrew Lloyd Webber). Now, we take Webber’s creation and hand it over to Joel Schumacher.

Joel Schumacher.

The guy who took the last Batman movie and turned it into a travesty with nipples. Yeah, the guy also made Falling Down, A Time To Kill, and 8MM, but the fact Batman & Robin is even on the guy’s resume is cause for concern.

I don’t hold Batman & Robin as the only reason Schumacher’s direction of this film makes me uncomfortable. So far, the most damning thing I’ve read is his decision to go with Gerard Butler over Michael Crawford for the lead role. Crawford is THE Phantom. He appears on the Cast Recording CD and would be an obvious choice for the Phantom, as he knows the role better than any human being on the planet. However, somewhere along the line Schumacher decided that a guy who, by his own admission, isn’t that great of a singer is The Phantom. This concerns me.

The second concern I have is Emmy Rossum as Christine. Why? I’ve never heard her sing. If you’re making a musical, one would think knowing something about the singing talent of the cast would matter. My only hope is that Webber had some sort of input on who would be cast as the voices of the characters. If that’s the case, I’m sure these fears are unfounded. If Schumacher was in control of this, I’m worried.

When Will Smith played Muhammed Ali, his biggest concern was that he’d be the guy who ruined the Muhammed Ali role. Schumacher and cast run this same risk here. They are the first people committing the musical version of this play to film. A, to date, $3 billion worldwide gross means a whole lot of people have seen this musical. Some of them have probably seen it a few times. A few more, myself included, probably mark it as their favorite musical. This is frightening water for any directory to tread in, especially the one responsible for the character history assassination of Batman and the city of Gotham.

That being said, I think the fact it’s Phantom of the Opera will sustain it to a relatively HUGE opening weekend average. I say “relatively” because, surprisingly, according to Box Office Mojo, it will only open in 600 theaters nationwide. It also goes up against Meet the Fockers, the sequel to 2000’s Meet the Parents. My guess is Meet the Fockers will open to better numbers simply because it’s being released to 6 times more screens than Phantom, but I think you’ll see a better per-screen average for Phantom. I also am pretty sure Phantom will have a longer sustained run.

This, of course, hinges on whether or not Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum do not make ears bleed with renditions of songs people have memorized from their Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman voiced Cast Recordings. If Webber had a say, it won’t be bad.

Then again, Britney Spears can’t sing a lick and she’s sold millions of albums. Maybe I’m putting too much stock in the American Public being able to spot voice talent.