Phantom of the Paradise Stage Musical in the Works From Paul Williams, Sam Pressman (Exclusive)

Phantom of the Paradise, the cult classic 1974 Brian de Palma film that reworked Phantom of the Opera and starred songwriting icon Paul Williams as the manipulative music producer known as Swan, is being made into a stage musical by Williams and Sam Pressman, whose father, Ed Pressman, produced the original.

“I’m excited about having a chance to deliver what fans have been suggesting for years… POTP as a stage musical," Williams said in a statement to MovieMaker. "I think it’s time has come!”

In addition to starring in the film, which De Palma wrote and directed, Williams composed the score and wrote the songs. Pressman told MovieMaker that he and Williams have spoken to multiple potential writers for the stage musical, including American Psycho and The Shards author Bret Easton Ellis — though no commitments have been made.

Pressman told MovieMaker that he, Williams and Ellis had "such an amazing dinner — Bret's such a true fan of Phantom and of Paul, and it was awesome to introduce the two of them in person."

Ellis has also mentioned the meeting on his podcast, though again, nothing is settled in terms of the stage musical's writer.

Asked about De Palma's potential involvement in the new stage play, Pressman said there were potentially "different paths... it's just so early."

De Palma has been considering a Phantom of the Paradise stage musical for decades. Pressman noted that he recently revisited a libretto, or book, that De Palma wrote for a prospective stage version of the film back in 1987. Pressman has also discussed the project with De Palma.

"We certainly want Brian to feel honored," Pressman said. "I went to go see Brian last fall, to talk about the dream. Phantom was an early and significant film for him and I'd say the favorite film of my father in his career. I think the chaos and originality of the whole experience was deeply inspiring."

Pressman noted that the plan is to open the stage play "not on Broadway" but "building to that stage."

Pressman took over his father's company, Pressman Film, after Ed Pressman's death in 2023. Besides Phantom of the Paradise, Pressman Film's credits include Wall Street, The Crow, and Mary Harron's film adaptation of American Psycho.

Sam Pressman, an actor and producer who grew up on film sets, has produced films including Harron's recent Daliland and the 2024 The Crow revamp starring Bill Skarsgård.

Paul Williams, Sam Pressman and The Phantom of the Paradise

The original Phantom of the Paradise starred William Finley as naive singer-songwriter Winslow Leach, who is tricked by Williams' Swan into sacrificing his life's work. Seeking revenge, Winslow dons a menacing silver mask — which gives his voice a metallic rasp — and terrorizes Swan's new concert hall, The Paradise, while demanding his songs be sung Swan's new protégé, Phoenix, played by soon-to-be Suspiria star Jessica Harper.

Williams is one of the most successful and influential songwriters of all, a legend who has worked with everyone from Barbra Streisand to The Carpenters to Daft Punk. His best known songs include the Oscar-nominated "Rainbow Connection" from 1979's The Muppet Movie, and "Evergreen," from the 1976 Streisand version of A Star Is Born. He wrote the lyrics for the song, which won a Grammy and Oscar.

At the time de Palma enlisted him for Phantom of the Paradise, Williams was best known for writing The Carpenters' “We’ve Only Just Begun” and “Rainy Days and Mondays,” as well as Bobby Sherman's "Cried Like a Baby" — and for clowning around on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson. 

But Phantom of the Paradise let him embrace darkness: His ageless, possibly demonic Swan is like a cult leader, exerting control through song.

De Palma wrote and directed the film long before he became known for classics like Carrie, Scarface and The Untouchables. He was a largely underground filmmaker known at the time for counterculture movies like 1968’s Greetings and 1970’s Hi Mom, with a then-little-known Robert De Niro, and for the well-received 1972 horror film Sisters, with Margot Kidder. He thought Phantom of the Paradise could be his commercial breakthrough. 

The film, released by 20th Century Fox. underwhelmed at the box office and received mixed reviews: Los Angeles Times critic Kevin Thomas called it “delightfully outrageous,” while The New York Times’  Vincent Canby said it was “an elaborate disaster.”

But like another groundbreaking mid-'70s rock musical, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, it soon found a passionate, loyal audience who appreciated its beauty and unapologetic weirdness. (It hasn't played at midnight screenings all over the world for half a century like Rocky Horror, but neither has anything else.)

The passionate Phantom of the Paradise fandom includes an intensely dedicated following in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, as detailed in the documentary Phantom of Winnipeg.

Its biggest fan is almost certainly Ari Kahan, keeper of the The Swan Archives — the most comprehensive Phantom of the Paradise collection ever compiled. Kahan and Williams came together last year for several 50th anniversary screenings of Phantom.

The film's influence may be even greater than many fans realize — Kahan has said he believes De Palma's Phantom was a significant reference point for Darth Vader, noting that De Palma and Star Wars creator George Lucas are friends and contemporaries.

"Nobody that I know of has asked Lucas to his face, but I do know that there was a preview screening of Phantom on the Fox lot in July of 1974, so, four or five months before the film was released," Kahan told MovieMaker last year. "Lucas was at that screening and was sufficiently impressed by Paul Hirsch’s editing — and I assume that based on Brian’s recommendation of Hirsch, that Lucas brought him on to edit Star Wars.

"I can’t imagine that between the voice box and the heavy breathing and the black outfit that some of the Phantom didn’t creep into Darth Vader. But I have no hard evidence and nobody that I know has ever admitted to it.

Lucas has not responded to MovieMaker's request for comment.

Main image: William Finley in Phantom of the Paradise. 20th Century Fox.