A young adult adaptation ofPhantom of the Operais in development at Disney+. The original Gaston Leroux novel is set in Paris' Palais Garnier Opera House, which is being haunted by a vengeful “Phantom” who takes a young singer under his wing and has been adapted to the screen many times since it was originally published as a serial between 1909 and 1910. The most well-knownPhantom of the Operaadaptationis likely the 1986 Andrew Lloyd Webber stage musical, which was made into a 2004 movie directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum.
PerDeadline, Disney+ isin early development on a young adult reimagining ofThe Phantom of the Opera.High School MusicalandDescendantsdirector Kenny Ortega is attached to helm the project, which was penned byAt Midnight’s Giovanni M. Porta from a story the writer conceived with Eric Bromberg. Ortega will also executive produce the project, which could potentially become a franchise in the vein of his previous Disney collaborations, which also includes the 1993 cult classicHocus Pocus.
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This report does not indicate whether this new version of the story is intended to be a new original musical. If it is, it could become the first musical adaptation to hit the screen in some time. Although the best-known version of the novel is a musical,it is most frequently adapted into horror movies with de-emphasized musical elements, including the 1925 silent classic starring Lon Chaney, a 1989 slasher-inflected offering starringA Nightmare on Elm Street’s Robert Englund, and Italian horror masterDario Argento’sPhantom of the Operafrom 1998.
Robert Englund’sPhantom of the Operawas helmed byHalloween 4: The Return of Michael Myersdirector Dwight H. Little.
Beyond the 1974 Brian De Palma cult classicPhantom of the Paradise, prominent musical adaptations of the Leroux novel have largely been limited to various interpretations of the Webber musical.The most recent original musical interpretation came in 2011with the loose French-language animated adaptationA Monster in Paris. This would leave plenty of room for Ortega’s version to carve out a niche as a new musical interpretation, should it choose to embrace that genre.
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Young adult reimaginings of the story have been accomplished before, including the 1989 teen slasherPhantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revengeand the 2000 Disney Channel moviePhantom of the Megaplex. However, transforming the iconicPhantom of the Operainto a franchise might be a tall order, even for the man behind the first threeDescendantsandHigh School Musicalmovies, kicking off both smash-hit franchises. The original story is somewhat self-contained, which is why no adaptation has yet developed into a robust long-running franchise, so the adaptationmay require considerable alterations in order to better fit a franchise structure.
