Hey folks, Harry here... There's a ton of subjects touched on here, well, not a ton, but a few. Personally I like Antonio doing PHANTOM - I loved his voice in EVITA and the passion that he sung with. It might not have been acoustically perfect or in the range of Crawford, but Antonio sings in a range that human beings can emulate in the shower with out years of vocal training, whereas, when you try to sing Crawford's range, you shatter things and get a sore throat. I know that sounds like a lame excuse, but there is something to medium range singers... in the Tenor range that crosses them over for larger pop-mainstream audiences, which is what a film would be going for... I think. See you on the otherside of Billy's report...
Hey, Harry. Billy Flynn in Chicago here again with another update on the Lloyd Webber Phantom of the Opera film adaptation. From what I hear, they're really moving forward on the whole casting situation.
As you know, Antonio Banderas has long been rumored to be taking on the title role, and right now he looks almost like a lock. In a recent interview Banderas said, "If they need me or they think that I am the person to play that character on the big screen, I'll be there. [Lloyd Webber and I] have been in contact since the time that I did 'Evita,' talking about 'Phantom.' I was in London with him several times when Shekhar Kapur was attached to the project. Nothing happened. It was [left] in the hands of Warner Bros."
Now, Banderas is currently getting ready to star in a Broadway revival of the musical Nine. The musical starts previews at the end of March, and I'm being told that it is essentially a sort of warm-up for Antonio before Phantom begins filming in the Fall. Although there's still an outside chance of someone else stepping in, it's essentially Antonio's role to lose. He's always been a big fan of the story and of the show, and he and Lloyd Webber have talked about the film for years now. Lloyd Webber has a very close relationship with Banderas, so for something else to change the situation would come as a huge surprise. Trust me, Antonio is locked-in on this project, at this point, we're basically just awaiting a formal announcement.
Look for Banderas to do a tune up with Nine and then step directly onto Phantom's set in the Fall.
As another quick little note, I know there's been some hub-bub about Ashley Judd dropping out of Catwoman, since she's seemingly been attached to that project for a very long time. Well, the reason she can no longer film that project is because this fall, she's taking on the role of 'Maggie' in the Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Apparently producers are also trying to get Mark Ruffalo to step in and play 'Brick,' which I think would make for some interesting sparks. In any case, WB has definitely turned their attention to Nicole Kidman and are now trying to lock her up to the play the woman in the sexy catsuit.
Anyway, I'll be sure to keep you posted as new Phantom news floats my way.
All I Care About Is Love,
Billy Flynn
Meanwhile, I've been hearing all sorts of rumors about the gal projects at Warner Brothers. The developments that I hear are going on on WONDER WOMAN, I hear some interesting creative talen have taken an interest... we'll see what happens, I'm trying to get confirmations before moving forward, CATWOMAN on the otherhand is fairly stillborne at the script stage I'm told... I should be getting the script very soon I'm told.
This is Harry signing out...
