The Phantom of the Opera | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Joel Schumacher |
Produced by | Andrew Lloyd Webber |
Screenplay by |
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Based on |
The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber Charles Hart Richard Stilgoe Gaston Leroux Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux |
Starring | |
Music by | Andrew Lloyd Webber |
Cinematography | John Mathieson |
Edited by | Terry Rawlings |
Production
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Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date
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Running time
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143 minutes |
Country |
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Language | English |
Budget | $70 million |
Box office | $154.6 million |
The Phantom of the Opera is a 2004 British-American film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1986 musical of the same name, which in turn is based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux. It was produced and co-written by Lloyd Webber and directed by Joel Schumacher. It stars Gerard Butler in the title role, Emmy Rossum as Christine Daaé, Patrick Wilson as Raoul, Miranda Richardson as Madame Giry, Minnie Driver as Carlotta Giudicelli, and Jennifer Ellison as Meg Giry
The film was announced in 1989 but production did not start until 2002 due to Lloyd Webber's divorce and Schumacher's busy career. It was shot entirely at Pinewood Studios, with scenery created with miniatures and computer graphics. Rossum, Wilson, and Driver had singing experience, but Butler had none and so had music lessons. The Phantom of the Opera grossed approximately $154 million worldwide, despite receiving mixed to negative reviews, which praised the visuals and acting but criticized the writing and directing.
In 1919, the Opéra Populaire holds a public auction to clear the theatre's vaults. Raoul, Viscount de Chagny purchases a papier-mâché music box in the shape of a monkey and eyes it sadly as Madame Giry, an aged woman dressed in black, watches him. The auctioneer then presents a shattered chandelier as the next item up for bid, explaining that it once played a key role in "the strange affair of the Phantom of the Opera." As it flickers to life and slowly ascends to its original place in the rafters, the audience is transported back in time to the year 1875.