After the recent announcement of Renfield, Universal Pictures has announced that a modernized remake of the classic 1925 Phantom of the Opera is in the works. John Fusco (Young Guns, Hidalgo) has provided the script, and the film will be produced by 12-time Grammy award-winning musician John Legend, Harvey Mason Jr., and Mike Jackson.
The film will be an adaptation of the original 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux, not the Anthony Lloyd Webber Broadway show that premiered in 1988. The popular musical was adapted to the screen in 2004 by filmmaker Joel Schumacher.
According to an interview with Deadline, Fusco said, “This is set in the sultry nightlife scene of modern-day New Orleans, the world of jazz, R&B, neo-Soul, and funk. The French Quarter, where New Orleans is not only known as America’s most haunted city, but the music, French Creole culture, the voodoo mystique, masquerade pageantry of Mardi Gras, just lent itself to a natural adaptation of the Paris setting, and a story that has revenge, unrequited love, and mystery.”
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No announcements have been made regarding a director or cast, but with rumblings going on for years that Universal has been trying to create their own “MonsterVerse,” we do wonder whether this film will have any connection Renfield, a modern-style Dracula story starring Nicholas Hoult, Awkwafina, and Nic Cage set to release sometime next year.
