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Journalism of Courage
NEW DELHI, JAN 19: The Hollywood trade Bible, Variety, has reported that Shekhar Kapur will be directing the film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phanton of the Opera. The smash worldwide hit will star Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, the twosome of The Mask of Zorro. But that’s not before Kapur starts shooting Steinbeck’s Point of View, for Warner Bros and Bel Air Entertainment.
Though Variety does err in reporting both Kapur’s age (early 40s) and number of films he’s helmed (40), it says Steinbeck is based on a script by Brandon Camp and Mike Thompson that became one of the highest-profile development projects in town after it was initially purchased by Bel Air’s Steve Reuther and producer Mark Johnson for $ 700,000 against $ 1.5 million.
WB president Lorenzo Di Bonaventura and Bel Air’s Reuther and Johnson worked hard to bring Kapur into the fold. “In concert with Shekhar, we’ll begin approaching cast for the next few weeks and we’d like to be shooting by early summer,” Reuther said.
Kapur has also been conversing regularly with Andrew Lloyd Webber about finally turning his beloved Phantom into a screen vehicle. WB has found that no easy feat, with numerous high-profile helmers considering and then walking away from the job, ranging from Joel Schumacher to a most recent dalliance with Hong Kong action legend John Woo, who wanted his Face/Off star John Travolta to play the title character.
Lloyd Webber began talking withKapur after seeing Elizabeth and it appears they’ll develop the property together, if Lloyd Webber can abide Kapur’s desire to interpret his cherished musical by taking creative liberties, along the lines of how Baz Luhrmann adapted Romeo & Juliet or Julie Taymor dramatically transformed the animated movie, The Lion King, for the Broadway stage.
