<Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $154.6 million </Td> </Tr> <P> The Phantom of the Opera is a 2004 musical drama film based on Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1986 musical of the same name, which in turn is based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux . Produced and co-written by Lloyd Webber and directed by Joel Schumacher, it stars Gerard Butler in the title role, as the Phantom . Emmy Rossum as Christine Daaé, Patrick Wilson as Raoul, Miranda Richardson as Madame Giry, Minnie Driver as Carlotta Giudicelli, and Jennifer Ellison as Meg Giry . </P> <P> The film was announced in 1989 but production did not start until 2002 due to Lloyd Webber's divorce and Schumacher's busy career . It was shot entirely at Pinewood Studios, with scenery created with miniatures and computer graphics . Rossum, Wilson and Driver had singing experience, but Butler had none and so had music lessons . The Phantom of the Opera grossed $154.6 million worldwide and received mixed to negative reviews from critics, but was very well received by audiences . Critics praised the visuals and acting (particularly Rossum's performance) but criticized the writing and directing . </P> <P> In 1919, the Opéra Populaire holds a public auction to clear the theatre's vaults . Raoul, Viscount de Chagny purchases a papier - mâché music box in the shape of a monkey and eyes it sadly as Madame Giry, an aged woman dressed in black, inspects him . The auctioneer then presents a shattered chandelier as the next item up for bid, claiming that it once played a key role in "the strange affair of the Phantom of the Opera". As it flickers to life and slowly ascends to its original place in the rafters, the auction is transported back in time to the year 1870 . </P>

Where was the movie phantom of the opera filmed