| The Phantom of the Opera | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Joel Schumacher |
| Screenplay by |
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| Based on | The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber Charles Hart Richard Stilgoe The Phantom of the Opera byGaston Leroux |
| Produced by | Andrew Lloyd Webber |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | John Mathieson |
| Edited by | Terry Rawlings |
| Music by | Andrew Lloyd Webber |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 143 minutes[2] |
| Countries |
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| Language | English |
| Budget | $70–80 million[1][3] |
| Box office | $154.6 million[1] |
The Phantom of the Opera is a 2004musicalromanticdrama film based onAndrew Lloyd Webber'smusical of the same name, which in turn is based onGaston Leroux's novel,Le Fantôme de l'Opéra. Produced and co-written by Lloyd Webber and directed byJoel Schumacher, the film features anensemble cast consisting ofGerard Butler asthe titular character, withEmmy Rossum,Patrick Wilson,Miranda Richardson,Minnie Driver,Simon Callow,Ciarán Hinds,Victor McGuire andJennifer Ellison in supporting roles.
The film was announced in 1989, although production did not start until 2002 due to Lloyd Webber's divorce and Schumacher's busy career. It was shot entirely atPinewood Studios, with scenery created with miniatures and computer graphics. Rossum, Wilson and Driver had singing experience, but Butler had none and was provided with music lessons prior to filming.The Phantom of the Opera grossed $154.6 million worldwide. It received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for the visuals and acting, particularly the performances of the lead actors, but criticism towards the writing, direction and unnecessary deviations from the source material. Despite its initial reception, the film received several awards and a trio of Oscar nominations, as well as a positive reception from the audience.[4]
In 1870, aParisianopera house prepares for the performance of the operaHannibal, headed by sopranoCarlotta Giudicelli. Theatre manager Monsieur Lefèvre plans to retire, leaving the building under the ownership ofscrappers Richard Firmin and Gilles André, who introduce their patron,Viscount Raoul de Chagny. Carlotta refuses to perform due to being constantly tormented by the theatre's resident "Opera Ghost", who is said to live in thecatacombs below. Facing the performance's cancellation,ballet mistressMadame Giry suggests that dancerChristine Daaé, Raoul's childhood sweetheart, stands in for Carlotta; she displays her singing talents and is a success on opening night.
Christine tells her best friendMeg, Giry's daughter, that she is being coached by a tutor she calls the "Angel of Music", which had been sent by her late father following his passing. Christine reunites with Raoul and confides that she has been visited by the Angel, but he dismisses her story. That night, the masked Opera Ghost, better known as the "Phantom", appears before Christine in amirror, leading her away to his underground lair. After the Phantom reveals a mannequin of Christine dressed in awedding dress he made for her, Christine faints and sleeps in the lair.
Once Christine awakens and sees the Phantom, she removes his mask; he reacts violently and covers his face with his hand. After they have an understanding, the Phantom then returns Christine to the theatre unharmed but orders the managers to make her the lead inIl Muto, only for them to choose the returning Carlotta instead. During the performance, the Phantom switches Carlotta's throat spray, causing her to sing out of tune, and Christine replaces her. The Phantom then encountersthe stagehand and hangs him from above the stage. Christine and Raoul flee to the roof, declaring their love for each other. The Phantom, now heartbroken after witnessing the scene, vowsrevenge.
Three months later, Christine and Raoul announce theirengagement at aNew Yearmasquerade ball. The Phantom soon crashes the ball and orders his own opera,Don Juan Triumphant, to be performed. Upon seeing Christine'sengagement ring, the Phantom steals it and flees, pursued by Raoul, but Giry thwarts him as she then privately discloses how she rescued the Phantom, once a much-abused and deformed young boy billed in afreak show, when she was younger. The next day, Christine visits her father's tomb with the Phantom posing as his spirit to win her back, but Raoul intervenes.
Raoul and the managers plan to capture the Phantom during his opera, but he usurps the lead tenor to get to Christine, who soon unmasks him during a duet and exposes his deformed face to the horrified audience. The Phantom then abducts Christine and retreats as he causes theauditorium'schandelier to crash, sparking a building-wide inferno to cover his tracks. However, amob aided by the gathered authorities forms to hunt him down. Giry leads Raoul to the Phantom's lair to rescue Christine, while Meg also leads the mob.
The Phantom has Christine wear the wedding dress and proposesmarriage. Christine tries reasoning with him by confessing that she only fears his malicious actions, not his appearance. When Raoul arrives, the Phantom threatens his life unless Christine weds him, to which she kisses him out of pity. Moved by her compassion, the Phantom allows the couple to leave. Comforted by amusic box, the Phantom is allowed to keep Christine's ring. He then escapes before the mob arrives, with Meg finding only his discarded mask.
Later in 1919, at apublic auction held to clear out the now-condemned opera house's vaults, an elderly Raoul bids against the now-retired Giry for the Phantom's music box. He later visits the recently deceased Christine's grave and places the instrument before it. Before leaving, he notices a freshly laidrose with Christine's ring around its stem, implying that the Phantom is still alive and will always love her.
Warner Bros. purchased thefilm rights toThe Phantom of the Opera in early 1989, granting Andrew Lloyd Webber totalartistic control.[5] Despite interest fromA-list directors, Lloyd Webber and Warner Bros. instantly hired Joel Schumacher to direct; Lloyd Webber had been impressed with Schumacher's use of music inThe Lost Boys.[6] The duo wrote the screenplay that same year,[6] whileMichael Crawford andSarah Brightman were cast to reprise their roles from the original stage production. Filming was set to begin atPinewood Studios in England in July 1990, under a $25 million budget.[7]
However, the start date was pushed to November 1990 at bothBabelsberg Studios in Potsdam, Germany andBarrandov Studios in Prague, Czech Republic.[8] Production forThe Phantom of the Opera was stalled with Lloyd Webber and Brightman's divorce.[5] "Everything got tied up in settlements", Schumacher reflected. "Then my career took off and I was really busy."[9] As a result,The Phantom of the Opera languished indevelopment limbo for Warner Bros. throughout the 1990s.[10] In February 1997, Schumacher considered returning, but eventually dropped out in favour ofBatman Unchained,Runaway Jury andDreamgirls.[11] The studio was keen to castJohn Travolta for the lead role,[12] but also held discussions withAntonio Banderas,[13] who undertook vocal preparation and sang the role of the Phantom in the TV specialAndrew Lloyd Webber: TheRoyal Albert Hall Celebration.[14]
Schumacher and Lloyd Webber restarted development forThe Phantom of the Opera in December 2002.[6] It was then announced in January 2003 that Lloyd Webber'sReally Useful Group had purchased the film rights from Warner Bros. in an attempt to produceThe Phantom of the Opera independently.[14] As a result, Lloyd Webber invested $6 million of his own money.[15]The Phantom of the Opera was produced on an $80 million budget.[3] Warner Bros. was given afirst-look deal for distribution; when the principal cast was chosen in June 2003, Warner Bros. paid under $8 million to acquire the North American distribution rights.[16][3]
Hugh Jackman was among those considered for the role of Phantom, but he faced scheduling conflicts withVan Helsing. "They rang to ask about my availability", Jackman explained in an April 2003 interview, "probably about 20 other actors as well. I wasn't available, unfortunately. So, that was a bummer."[17] "We needed somebody who has a bit of rock and roll sensibility in him", Andrew Lloyd Webber explained. "He's got to be a bit rough, a bit dangerous; not a conventional singer. Christine is attracted to the Phantom because he's the right side of danger."[6] Director Joel Schumacher had been impressed with Gerard Butler's performance inDracula 2000.[18] Prior to his audition, Butler had no professional singing experience and had only taken four voice lessons before singing "The Music of the Night" for Lloyd Webber.[5]
Katie Holmes, who began working with a vocal coach, was the front-runner for Christine Daaé in March 2003.[19] She was later replaced byAnne Hathaway, a classically trained soprano, in 2004. However, Hathaway dropped out of the role because the production schedule of the film overlapped withThe Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, which she was contractually obligated to make.[20][21] Hathaway was then replaced withEmmy Rossum. The actress modeled the relationship between the Phantom and Christine afterSuzanne Farrell andGeorge Balanchine.[15] Patrick Wilson was cast as Raoul based on his previous Broadway theatre career.[22] For the role of Carlotta, Minnie Driver devised an over-the-top andcampy performance as the egotisticalprima donna. Despite also lacking singing experience, Ciarán Hinds was cast by Schumacher as Richard Firmin; the two had previously worked together onVeronica Guerin.[6]Ramin Karimloo, who later played the Phantom as well as Raoul on London's West End, briefly appears as theportrait of Gustave Daaé, Christine's father.
Principal photography lasted from 15 September 2003 to 15 January 2004. The film was shot entirely using eightsound stages atPinewood Studios,[23] where, on the Pinewoodbacklot, the bottom half exterior of the opera house was constructed. The top half was implemented using a combination ofcomputer-generated imagery and ascale model created byCinesite. The surrounding skyline seen during the "All I Ask of You" sequence was entirely composed ofmatte paintings.[6] Cinesite additionally created a miniature version of the auditorium's chandelier used for its fall, since a life-size model was too big for the actual set.[24]
Production designerAnthony D. G. Pratt was influenced by French architectCharles Garnier, designer of the original Paris opera house, as well asEdgar Degas,John Singer Sargent,Gustave Caillebotte, thePre-Raphaelite Brotherhood andDante Gabriel Rossetti. Schumacher was inspired byJean Cocteau'sBeauty and the Beast (1946) and featured a hallway lined withcandelabra-holding arms. The cemetery was based on thePère Lachaise andMontparnasse.[25] Costume designerAlexandra Byrne used a limited black, white, gold and silver color palette for the "Masquerade" sequence in spite of the lyrics indicating that it is a multicolored affair in which mauve, puce, green and yellow are some of the colors worn by attendees.[6]
The Phantom of the Opera was released in the United Kingdom on 10 December 2004 and the United States on 22 December 2004. With alimited release of 622 theaters, it opened at tenth place at the weekend box office, grossing $6.3 million across five days.[26] Afterexpanding to 907 screens on 14 January 2005[27] the film obtained the 9th spot at the box office,[28] which it retained during its 1,511 screens wide release on 21 January 2005.[29][30] The total domestic gross was $51.2 million. With a further $107 million earned internationally,The Phantom of the Opera reached a worldwide total of $154.6 million.[1] A few foreign markets were particularly successful,[31] such as Japan, where the film's¥4.20 billion ($35 million) gross stood as the 6th most successful foreign film and 9th overall of the year.[32][33] The United Kingdom and South Korea both had over $10 million in receipts, with $17.5 million and $11.9 million, respectively.[1][34]
Anthony Pratt andCelia Bobak were nominated for theAcademy Award forBest Art Direction, as was John Mathieson forBest Cinematography. However, both categories were awarded toThe Aviator. Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricistCharles Hart were nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Original Song ("Learn to Be Lonely") but lost to "Al otro lado del río" fromThe Motorcycle Diaries.[35] The song was also nominated for theGolden Globe but it lost toAlfie's "Old Habits Die Hard". In thesame ceremony, Emmy Rossum was nominated forBest Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, losing toAnnette Bening inBeing Julia.[36] At theSaturn Awards, Rossum won forBest Performance by a Younger Actor,[37] whileThe Phantom of the Opera was nominated forBest Action/Adventure/Thriller Film and Alexandra Byrne was nominated forCostume Design.[38]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Academy Awards | Best Art Direction | Anthony Pratt (art director) Celia Bobak (set decorator) | Nominated |
| Best Cinematography | John Mathieson | Nominated | ||
| Best Original Song | Andrew Lloyd Webber (composer) Charles Hart (lyricist) For the song "Learn To Be Lonely" | Nominated | ||
| 2004 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Musical or Comedy – Motion Picture | The Phantom of the Opera | Nominated |
| Best Actress – Musical or Comedy | Emmy Rossum | Nominated | ||
| Best Original Song | Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) Charles Hart (lyrics) Song: "Learn to Be Lonely" | Nominated | ||
| 2004 | Saturn Awards | Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film | The Phantom of the Opera | Nominated |
| Best Performance by a Younger Actor | Emmy Rossum | Won | ||
| Best Costumes | Alexandra Byrne | Nominated | ||
| 2004 | British Society of Cinematographers | Best Cinematography | John Mathieson | Won |
| 2004 | San Diego Film Critics Society Awards | Best Cinematography | John Mathieson | Won |
| 2004 | Critics' Choice Awards | Best Picture | The Phantom of the Opera | Nominated |
| Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer | Emmy Rossum | Won | ||
| 2005 | Satellite Awards | Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical | Emmy Rossum | Nominated |
| Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical | Gerard Butler | Nominated | ||
| Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Comedy or Musical | Minnie Driver | Nominated | ||
| Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Comedy or Musical | Patrick Wilson | Nominated | ||
| Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical | The Phantom of the Opera | Nominated | ||
| Best Original Song | Andrew Lloyd Webber ("Learn to Be Lonely") | Nominated | ||
| Best Cinematography | John Mathieson | Nominated | ||
| Best Sound (Editing & Mixing) | Tony Dawe Andy NelsonAnna BehlmerMartin Evans | Nominated | ||
| Best Art Direction/Production Design | Anthony Pratt Celia Bobak | Nominated | ||
| Best Costume Design | Alexandra Byrne | Nominated | ||
| Best Screenplay, Adapted | Andrew Lloyd Webber | Nominated | ||
| 2005 | London Critics Circle Film Awards | British Supporting Actress of the Year | Minnie Driver | Nominated |
| 2005 | Motion Picture Sound Editors | Best Sound Editing in Feature Film - Music - Musical | Yann McCullough | Nominated |
| 2005 | National Board of Review | Breakthrough Performance by an Actress | Emmy Rossum | Won |
| 2005 | Online Film Critics Society Awards | Best Breakthrough Performance | Emmy Rossum | Nominated |
| 2005 | Art Directors Guild | Period or Fantasy Film | Anthony Pratt John FennerPaul KirbyAnthony Caron-DelionIain McFadyen | Nominated |
| 2005 | Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actress | Emmy Rossum | Won |
| Best Family Feature Film - Comedy or Musical | The Phantom of the Opera | Nominated | ||
| 2005 | Visual Effects Society Awards | Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Motion Picture | Claas Henke Laurent Ben-MimounAnupam Das | Nominated |
| Outstanding Compositing in a Motion Picture | Claas Henke Laurent Ben-MimounAnupam Das | Nominated |
On the review aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 33%, based on reviews from 171 critics, with an average score of 5.01/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "The music of the night has hit something of a sour note: critics are calling the screen adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's popular musical histrionic, boring and lacking in both romance and danger. Still, some have praised the film for its sheer spectacle."[39] OnMetacritic it has a weighted average score of 40 out of 100 based on 39 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[40] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[41]
"The film looks and sounds fabulous and I think it's an extraordinarily fine document of the stage show. While it doesn't deviate much from the stage material, the film has given it an even deeper emotional centre. It's not based on the theatre visually or direction-wise, but it's still got exactly the same essence. And that's all I could have ever hoped for."
Despite having been impressed with the cast,Jonathan Rosenbaum of theChicago Reader wrote that "Teen romance and operetta-style singing replace the horror elements familiar to film-goers, and director Joel Schumacher obscures any remnants of classy stage spectacle with the same disco overkill he brought toBatman Forever."[42]Stephanie Zacharek ofSalon.com believed thatPhantom of the Opera "takes everything that's wrong with Broadway and puts it on the big screen in a gaudy splat."[43]
In a mixed review forNewsweek,David Ansen praised Rossum's performance, but criticized the filmmakers for their focus on visual design rather than presenting a cohesive storyline. "Its kitschy romanticism bored me on Broadway and it bores me here—I may not be the most reliable witness. Still, I can easily imagine a more dashing, charismatic Phantom than Butler's. Rest assured, however, Lloyd Webber's neo-Puccinian songs are reprised and reprised and reprised until you're guaranteed to go out humming."[44]Owen Gleiberman ofEntertainment Weekly believed Schumacher did not add enough dimension in adaptingThe Phantom of the Opera. "Schumacher, the man whoadded nipples to Batman's suit, has staged Phantom chastely, as if his job were to adhere the audience to every note".[45]
Roger Ebert, who gave the film three stars out of four, reasoned that "part of the pleasure of movie-going is pure spectacle—of just sitting there and looking at great stuff and knowing it looks terrific. There wasn't much Schumacher could have done with the story or the music he was handed, but in the areas over which he held sway, he has triumphed."[46] In contrasting between the popularity of the Broadway musical, Michael Dequina ofFilm Threat magazine explained that "it conjures up this unexplainable spell that leaves audiences sad, sentimental, swooning, smiling—in some way transported and moved. Now, in Schumacher's film, that spell lives on."[47]
In a 2013 interview with Hollywood.com,Cameron Mackintosh, a co-producer on the stage musical who had nothing to do with this movie, said "I would have wanted to do the film differently. This new version which we’ve done (a touring production with reimagined staging) is dangerous and gritty. It combines the world of upstage and the lair below. You see two different worlds. That would have been my approach to the film."[48] In a 2021 interview withVariety, Andrew Lloyd Webber revealed that he personally felt director Joel Schumacher made a mistake in casting Gerard Butler. He said "The Phantom was too young, and the whole point of the Phantom is he needs to be quite a bit older than Christine."[49]
In June 2025, Lloyd Webber revealed that a remake of the film is in the early stages of development. While not revealing potential directors or actors, he suggested that he would like to see "somebody who is in their early 40s" play the Phantom in the new film.[50]
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