Universal Pictures continues its run of classic monster films by going to the opera.
The studio is working on a new adaptation of the iconic and tragic Phantom of the Opera story made famous on the Silver Screen in 1925 by the Man of a Thousand Faces, Lon Chaney, according to a report on Deadline.
The new film–simply entitled Phantom–will be based on a spec script by John Fusco and produced by music luminary John Legend, Harvey Mason Jr. and Mike Jackson. Ty Stiklorius will serve as executive producer.
Phantom reportedly will be adapted from the 1910 Gaston Leroux novel Phantom of the Opera, but will be set in present-day New Orleans. The novel, of course, was the springboard for the Andrew Lloyd Webber Broadway blockbuster, and has also been adapted for the screen several times.
Fusco said the film will be set in the “sultry nightlife scene of modern-day New Orleans” and will tell a tale of “revenge, unrequited love and mystery.” The main storyline will follow a soul singer “who is mentored by a mystery man, as mysterious mishaps occur in a famed club trying to remain vibrant.”
It is unclear if this project is related to the proposed film reported on by Horror News Network back in May. If so, the creative team has changed. Back in the summer, it was reported that the script–said to be in the vein of Misery and Black Swan–would be written by Anthony McCarten.
No announcements about casting or a director have been made at this stage, so keep reading Horror News Network for the next update on Phantom.
