ALW Hints at a new PHANTOM Film
Posted: 6/23/25 at 12:43pm
Imagine a version directed by Robert Eggers that leans into the gothic horror & romance of it.
Updated On: 6/23/25 at 12:43 PM
Posted: 6/23/25 at 12:47pm
Similarly, I’d love to see a gothic or Grand Guignol concept helmed by Guillermo del Toro.
Posted: 6/23/25 at 12:52pm
Joel Schumacher’s film wasn’t gay enough. We deserved a Phantom where we could see his nipples through his costume!
Posted: 6/23/25 at 12:58pm
TotallyEffed said: "Can we get Spike Lee’s RENT instead?"
I'm still hoping he gets around to making his movie musical about the invention of viagra.
Posted: 6/23/25 at 1:00pm
TotallyEffed said: "Can we get Spike Lee’s RENT instead?"
Only if they get the OBC including Daphne to do it.
Posted: 6/23/25 at 1:12pm
Daphne is the definitive Mimi, never to be topped. I’d support this.
Posted: 6/23/25 at 1:14pm
ALW seems to be having a bit of a renaissance recently!
Posted: 6/23/25 at 1:28pm
I hope they bring Ceaser the horse back
Posted: 6/23/25 at 1:51pm
Play Esq. said: "Similarly, I’d love to see a gothic or Grand Guignol concepthelmed by Guillermo del Toro."
Josh Parham of Next Best Picture, who actually has a soft spot for Joel Schumacher's film despite its flaws, once tweeted that "If we ever get another adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera (and I fully believe we should), my choice for a director would be Guillermo del Toro." If you ask me, that actually sounds like a great idea. He's not only such a visionary filmmaker, but he also has a good amount of experiences with monsters. Plus, the original songs in his 2022 Netflix adaptation of Pinocchio were staged so well that I’d like to see what he could do with a full fledged live action movie musical.
Posted: 6/23/25 at 2:09pm
Del Toro would be a great choice for director if he wants it. Aside from the musical numbers in Pinocchio, The Shape of Water had that haunting dance scene. Music plays an integral part in his work, which you can really see in Pan's Labyrinth. He's so good at building these believable other worlds that I doubt there would be much of a struggle to take that extra step to a full on musical.
I could also see Luca Guadagnino doing great things with this. His Suspriria remake worked very well and showed his eye for music and horror onscreen.
A pair of wildcards: Cary Fukunaga and Floria Sigismondi. Fukunaga's Jane Eyre is one of the best modern Gothic romances we have and Sigismondi's long pedigree making music videos and weird horror films could be an interesting match for the material. I doubt either is enough of a name for this project, but a person can dream.
Posted: 6/23/25 at 2:43pm
I rather see that Joseph movie ALW has been trying to get made for a while.
Posted: 6/23/25 at 3:22pm
This is reassuring to me:
"Lloyd Webber said an actor in 'their early 40s' would be needed for the title role, adding 'I don’t think you want anyone too young as the story is about Christine mistaking the Phantom for her father.'"
Cameron Mackintosh's bent for casting young, pretty Phantoms has been very disappointing to me.
"Michael Riedel...The Perez Hilton of the New York Theatre scene"
- Craig Hepworth, What's On Stage
Posted: 6/23/25 at 5:16pm
Lot666 said: "This is reassuring to me:
"Lloyd Webber said an actor in 'their early 40s' would be needed for the title role, adding 'I don’t think you want anyone too young as the story is about Christine mistaking the Phantom for her father.'"
Cameron Mackintosh's bent for casting young, pretty Phantoms has been very disappointing to me."
In a 2021 interview with Variety, Andrew Lloyd Webber revealed that he personally felt Joel Schumacher made a mistake in casting Gerard Butler as the title character in the 2004 film. 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." Although anyone who saw the movie knows that there were way more problems with Butler's casting than just his age. Granted, he turned 34 halfway through principal photography while Michael Crawford was 44 when he first played it.
Posted: 6/24/25 at 6:48am
I know I'm in the minority, but I actually like the movie and never understood all the criticism.
as for Rent, my theory is that Lin-Manuel Miranda wants to direct a remake someday and made Tick Tick Boom to prove himself first (which he very much did). I’ve always thought Rent would work best as a super abstract film, as if Mark had made a series of music videos from the 90s.
Updated On: 6/24/25 at 06:48 AM
Posted: 10/23/25 at 7:01am
Jeffrey Karasarides said: "Play Esq. said: "Similarly, I’d love to see a gothic or Grand Guignol concepthelmed by Guillermo del Toro."
Josh Parham of Next Best Picture, who actually has a soft spot for Joel Schumacher's film despite its flaws, once tweeted that "If we ever get another adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’sPhantom of the Opera(and I fully believe we should), my choice for a director would be Guillermo del Toro." If you ask me, that actually sounds like a great idea. He's not only such a visionary filmmaker, but he also has a good amount of experiences with monsters. Plus, the original songs in his 2022 Netflix adaptation of Pinocchio were staged so well that I’d like to see what he could do with a full fledged live action movie musical."
While promoting Frankenstein, del Toro revealed that he's interested in doing his own Phantom of the Opera film (although didn't clarify if it'd be adapted primarily from the original novel or ALW's musical).
https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2025/10/22/guillermo-del-toro-has-a-couple-of-ideas-for-a-phantom-of-the-opera-movie
Posted: 10/23/25 at 9:08am
I'd love to see Guillermo Del Toro take on The Phantom of the Opera, and a lot of his movies feel like they're a half of a step away from being musicals anyway (tell me you can't imagine a musical stage adaptation of The Shape of Water, Pan's Labyrinth, or Crimson Peak), but somehow if GDT were to take on the material, I'd prefer he do it from the ground up his own way rather than be committed to the ALW version of the story.
Posted: 10/23/25 at 1:16pm
There was a stage version of Pan's Labyrinth involving Paul Williams that was chattered about for many years.
I like Guillermo. He struggles a lot beyond the visuals in many of his American films (the new Frankenstein included, IMO) but he'd be pretty perfect for this material.
Posted: 10/23/25 at 1:42pm
I want a Del Toro film version of Marie Christine that also functions as a revisal of the material.
Posted: 10/23/25 at 2:54pm
KevinKlawitter said: "tell me you can't imagine a musical stage adaptation of The Shape of Water, Pan's Labyrinth, or Crimson Peak"
I'd love to hear an Andrew Lloyd Webber score for Crimson Peak. 
"Michael Riedel...The Perez Hilton of the New York Theatre scene"
- Craig Hepworth, What's On Stage
