Michael Crawford as the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1986 musical The late Potter, known for Pennies from Heaven and Brimstone and Treacle, was the one “who decided on the Nazi-occupied Paris setting, and I assume it was his original idea.” “I came on board at the request of Wolfgang Petersen after a script had already been written by Dennis Potter,” he reveals. However, Dearden notes that it was another writer who had originated the project before his participation was secured. Though scant information on Phantom seems to have survived outside of a few notices in the entertainment trades of the time, what is known is that the film was to have been helmed by Wolfgang Petersen ( The NeverEnding Story, Enemy Mine), was to have starred Dustin Hoffman ( Tootsie, Rain Man), and would boast a screenplay written by Dearden ( Fatal Attraction, A Kiss Before Dying). Dearden, who provides some insight into the project’s development, the story it would have told, and why it sadly never came to be. Written by Fatal Attraction scribe James Dearden and rumored to have starred Dustin Hoffman in the title role, the Warner Brothers production ultimately went unmade after its initial development in the late 80s, even for all the popularity the tale was enjoying at the time due to the enormous success of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical. With this installment, we’ll be paying a brief visit to the Paris Opera House to uncover Phantom, Das Boot director Wolfgang Petersen’s updating of Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera. Here, we will be chatting with the creators of these unmade extremities to gain their unique insight into these follow-ups that never were, with the discussions standing as hopefully illuminating but undoubtedly painful reminders of what might have been. Welcome to Phantom Limbs, a recurring feature which will take a look at intended yet unproduced horror sequels and remakes – extensions to genre films we love, appendages to horror franchises that we adore – that were sadly lopped off before making it beyond the planning stages.

an often painful sensation of the presence of a limb that has been amputated.

Phantom of the opera 2004 script