The Phantom of the Opera, 2004, Emmy Rossum, Gerard Butler
The Phantom of the Opera is the 2004 Joel Schumacher directed film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Charles Hart's internationally successful 1986 stage musical, which is in turn based on the novel The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. The cast includes Gerard Butler as the Phantom, Emmy Rossum (who was only 16 at the time of filming) as Christine Daaé, Patrick Wilson as Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny, Miranda Richardson as Madame Giry, Jennifer Ellison as Meg Giry, and Minnie Driver (whose vocals were dubbed by Margaret Preece, a professional opera singer) as Carlotta Giudicelli. Ramin Karimloo (who had been playing Raoul in the London production of Phantom at the time of filming) appeared in a cameo role as Christine's father.
The film was a USA/UK co-production that had various distributors worldwide. For example, Warner Bros. distributed the film in the USA, and Universal Pictures (producers and/or distributors of the 1925, 1943, and 1962 adaptations of the book) released the film in Latin America and Australia.
The casting for the two leading roles was a rather lengthy process. Patrick Wilson, who later got the part of Raoul, had initially auditioned for the title role of The Phantom. The director later felt he was better to play Raoul because his voice matched the character better. Several actors were considered to play the title role including John Travolta and Antonio Banderas. Travolta turned it down because he felt the film wouldn't work, while Banderas took several months off from acting to train for the part, before he was turned down. Hugh Jackman was up for the role, but he lost the role at the last minute after the director heard him singing. He felt that he looked right for the part, but something about his voice wasn't good enough. Gerard Butler finally won the role after several intense screen tests. Casting for the role of Christine Daae took longer. Charlotte Church, Keira Knightley, and Katie Holmes were all in the running. Holmes had secured the part but the director refused to cast her because he felt that she was too old for the part; she reportedly impressed him with her voice. Anne Hathaway was a soprano singer in New York, and she was praised for her voice; she auditioned several times and almost got the part, but just as the contract was sent to her, she was forced to decline because of the overlapping schedules with the Princess Diaries sequel, although she tried to make it work. Emmy Rossum won the part.Wikipedia
