The Phantom of the Opera (2004) on Netflix
PG-1320042h 23mDramaMusicalRomance
A masked Opera Ghost haunts a Paris opera house, and its star soprano, Carlotta, refuses to perform. The chorus dancer Christine Daaé takes her place and becomes a star.
- Netflix3.9/5
- IMDb7.2/10139,982 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes33%
Trailer
Plot summary
In 1870, the Paris opera house rehearses Hannibal, an opera built around the soprano Carlotta Giudicelli. She refuses to go on, worn down by the tricks of a resident Opera Ghost said to dwell beneath the building. The departing manager Monsieur Lefèvre turns the house over to Richard Firmin and Gilles André, whose patron is Viscount Raoul de Chagny. With the performance close to cancellation, Madame Giry, the ballet mistress, puts forward Christine Daaé, a dancer in the company and Raoul's orphaned childhood sweetheart, to take Carlotta's place. Christine sings the part, and opening night makes her a success. To her friend Meg, Madame Giry's daughter, she confides that her late father has sent her an Angel of Music who coaches her singing.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Director Joel Schumacher had been impressed with Gerard Butler's performance in Dracula 2000, yet 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.
- Production was stalled by Lloyd Webber and Brightman's divorce. "Everything got tied up in settlements", Schumacher reflected, "then my career took off and I was really busy", and the film languished in development limbo at Warner Bros. throughout the 1990s.
- In a 2021 interview with Variety, Andrew Lloyd Webber said he personally felt Joel Schumacher made a mistake in casting Gerard Butler: "The Phantom was too young, and the whole point of the Phantom is he needs to be quite a bit older than Christine."
- Hugh Jackman was among those considered for the role of the Phantom but faced scheduling conflicts with Van Helsing. "They rang to ask about my availability", he explained, "probably about 20 other actors as well. I wasn't available, unfortunately."
- Hathaway dropped out of the role because the production schedule overlapped with The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, which she was contractually obligated to make, and she was replaced with Emmy Rossum.
- Katie Holmes, who began working with a vocal coach, was the front-runner for Christine Daaé in March 2003, and was later replaced by Anne Hathaway, a classically trained soprano, in 2004.
- Cinesite created a miniature version of the auditorium's chandelier for its fall, since the life-size model was too big for the actual set.
