In 2004 The Phantom of the Opera movie was directed by Joel Schumacher and co-produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber. This long awaited sumptuous film adaptation takes audiences beyond the boundaries of theatre and immerses them in a vibrant world of high romance, soaring music, riveting suspense and drama, while introducing the powerfully compelling story to a new generation of movie-goers.

"Phantom is a very personal piece in my career," says Andrew Lloyd Webber, "I thought Joel had an incredible visual sense and his use of music in the film was exceptional. One of the great joys of collaborating with Joel is that he has a great ear for music; he really gets it, he understands how the music drives the story."

Fate and good timing finally collided in December 2002, when the old friends met for dinner in London and Lloyd Webber proposed they join forces to launch the long-awaited production. "I had just done a series of gritty, more experimental films than the mainstream blockbusters I'd been associated with in the past," Schumacher says of his films 8mm, Flawless, Tigerland, Veronica Guerin and Phone Booth, which he shot in a mere twelve days. "Phantom seemed as far from twelve days in a phone booth as I could get. I've done so many different genres, but never a musical. It seemed like a huge challenge and I like that."

Other Andrew Lloyd Webber filmed productions include -

A feature film of Jesus Christ Superstar, made by Universal in 1973. The film, directed by Norman Jewison, starred Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson and Yvonne Elliman.

Jesus Christ Superstar was also specially filmed for video. The video version, directed by Gale Edwards and starring Glenn Carter and Rik Mayall, was released in 2000. It won an International Emmy at the 29th Awards, held in New York on November 19th 2001.

Evita was made into a feature film in 1996 starring Madonna and Antonio Banderas. Directed by Alan Parker, the film went on to win an Oscar for Best Original Song for You Must Love Me.

As well as composing music for his own musicals, Andrew Lloyd Webber has written film scores for Gumshoe and The Odessa File.

The Cats video, released autumn 1998, has sold more than 4 million copies worldwide.

For the first time in its 31-year history, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor® Dreamcoat was filmed in 1999, starring Donny Osmond, Joan Collins and Richard Attenborough. It was filmed on the ‘James Bond’ set at Pinewood Studios

A film version of the Broadway production of By Jeeves starring Martin Jarvis and Jon Scherer was also released worldwide.

A special behind the scenes DVD recording of Bombay Dreams, called Salaam Bombay, also features footage of the preparation for the special visit to the show by HRH The Queen.

 

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