SUBMITTED BY Timbo

December 15, 2003 — USA Today has the first photo from the movie version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, and talks to Joel Schumacher, its director.

The stars of the movie are Emmy Rossum, seen now in Mystic River, and Gerard Butler of Timeline and Lara Croft, Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. (Patrick Wilson of HBO's Angels in America plays the dashing Raoul.)

Schumacher is a filmmaker with a knack for discovering new talent, from Colin Farrell (Tigerland) and Matthew McConaughey (A Time to Kill) to Kiefer Sutherland and Jason Patric (Lost Boys). Schumacher was first asked to helm the romantic musical 15 years ago.

When the offer came around again, Schumacher met Webber and said, "If you still want me, I'd love to do it, but on one condition: with a very young, sexy cast. And he said, 'I have a condition: The three leads have to be good singers.' "

"Michael Crawford is now 65," Schumacher says. "Emmy Rossum just turned 17 and has been singing at the Metropolitan Opera since she was 7. To find three gorgeous people who could act and sing, well, we did it."

Read the rest at the link below.