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Il
Fantasma dell'Opera
(The
Phantom of the Opera)
In 1999, excitement time was here! Not only did we have a new series of films coming out with Julian Sands as part of the cast, the bulk of them had him in the lead roles. At the forefront of these new movies was the big-budget re-telling of the Phantom of the Opera story, directed by Italian horror-master Dario Argento. Julian managed to snag the coveted lead role of the Phantom, Erik, which was quite a feat considering the rest of the competition (a long list of high-profile actors including Gerard Depardieu, John Malkovich - reportedly the top choice, William Hurt and Willem Dafoe). Argento's daughter Asia plays Christine. She's quite lovely, and her dark beauty offsets Julian's pale, austere looks nicely.
After its opening in Italy and a few other countries in Europe, Phantom has essentially disappeared. It was released in the U.S. on DVD in late November, 1999, and should be out on VHS shortly. Reports indicated that the Italian film press, at least, was not very kind to Phantom in its reviews, and while it apparently did a decent box office business during the first few weeks, the film was not regarded as a "smash" of any sort. The general tenor of the comments I've heard from Dario Argento fans who have seen the film were also not overwhelmingly positive. Fortunately for Julian, more of the derogatory comments seem focused on the plot and direction than his acting. The thing I personally found most troubling were the comments on how graphic and pointless some of the gore, violence and nudity was. This film, with its underground, horror-fan appeal was not a guaranteed box-office smash in the U.S. from its onset, but comments about the extremity of the gore and violence from people who were already fans of horror-master Argento did not bode well for U.S. release, even on video.
November 22, 1998: Il Fantasma Dell'Opera has opened in Italy, and the early reviews are just starting to come in. No news yet on the release of the film anywhere outside of Italy, but an issue of the film industry magazine "Variety" featured the film on its cover. Unfortunately, that was the extent of the coverage in the magazine.
There was a well-regarded preview of the first 20 minutes of the film at the May 1998 Cannes Film Festival, but the expected showing as an Official Selection at the Venice Film Festival in August did not come about, as the film was not completed in time.
The amount of information about the film has become so massive that in order to make it as simple as possible to view it, I've divided it into a number of categories:
On a related
note, I have discovered that there is a faction which has set itself
up in direct opposition to any further films being made of Phantom of
the Opera. Largely comprised of fans of the Andrew Lloyd Webber
musical, and particularly that show's Phantom Michael Crawford, they
seem to be targeting a second big-budget, high-profile project which
has not yet (that I can see) gone into production. This production is
to be based upon the Webber musical, and may involve Webber himself.
The largest controversy seems to be over who will get the title role,
with John Travolta and Antonio Banderas being the two leading (and
apparently, the most objectionable) candidates. (Banderas has now
been officially cast in the lead role).
Michael
Crawford reportedly was willing to reprise his Broadway performance
on film, but that appears not to be the direction the production is
headed, which seems to be upsetting these people all the more. I have
not noticed any criticism or hostility directed at the Argento
production, which has Julian Sands as its star, but the overall tone
of the anti-Phantom-on-film campaign seems to be one of "it's
perfect on Broadway, therefore it's sacrilige to make it on film; and
anyone besides Michael Crawford would be a travesty in the lead role".
Availability:
released in the US on DVD and (non-consumer priced) VHS in late
November 1999. Check rental stores for VHS rental copies.
Buy
it on DVD. 
Buy
It on VHS. Buy
it on VHS with Spanish subtitles.