With the growing popularity that the adaptations of the musical have had over the last few years and Hollywood’s renewed interest in modern reboots and new reinterpretations of the classics, it was fate that soon a modern version also de The Phantom of the Opera.
It has been so long since the 2004 film with Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum that the new production, in which he will also be involved John Legend, it seems almost overdue.
The modern reboot of The Phantom of the Opera is in the works and will not be set in Paris
The new version in a modern key of Gaston Leroux’s early 20th century novel is already in the works, it will be entitled Phantom and will be a musical reboot of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s 1986 hit. This new version will have been made possible by the collaboration between producer Harvey Mason Jr. and songwriter John Legend.
It will change though the setting of the film: the events narrated do not take place in Paris, but in New Orleans, which makes sense anyway since the city has a large French quarter. The script was edited by John Fusco (the same who created the Netflix series Marco Polo).
“I have long wanted to explore The Phantom of the Opera in a new and contemporary way and in a French Quarter setting,” said Fusco. Given how deeply rooted the Creole and Voodoo cultures are in the city, as well as the theatricality of Mardi Gras, it certainly made sense to set the new adaptation of Phantom. It probably doesn’t hurt that Fusco is also an established blues musician since the late 1970s, having previously collaborated with artists such as Steve Vai, Ry Cooder and blues harp legend Sonny Terry.
We don’t know if the modern version of The Phantom of the Opera and if the new setting and the historical modernization of the plot will really live up to our expectations but we certainly can’t wait to find out.
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