Interview: Jacob Jones

In this edition of Interview, Last Resort Films president Phil Dolan sits down with writer Jacob Jones (Oh Deer, Sunny Days) to discuss the mixed results of his Season 14 films and his new adaptation of the musical The Phantom of the Opera.

PD: The Phantom of the Opera is a story many know, and both the musical and the original novel have been adapted before. What made you want to make a new adaptation?

JJ: The Phantom of the Opera have become a favored musical of mine, not just for the amount of high-quality performers that have taken apart in it over the years, but for it's unique and revolutionary take on the novel. While it is true that it is not the first (that honor belongs to Ken Hunt), there's a certain uniqueness and charm that Andrew Lloyd Webber perfected for it and it's something that can rarely be duplicated. What I set out to do when I made this adaptation was to celebrate the legacy of the musical while also reintroduce a couple concepts from the novel (Did you know Christine was originally blonde?). There will also be some concepts from the original movie that will be revisited in this one, which leads me to the other reason I chose to work on this. I wanted a better representative. There are many people who wound up being disappointed with how things worked out in the Joel Schumaker adaptation, and I believe it deserves a second chance in the big screen with the right director and cast at hand. That's why I chose Tim Burton to be my director, he resembles the spirit of The Phantom more than any other director I know and I am confident he will work his magic on the music of the night.

PD: Your adaptation had a bit of a difficult casting process with both the studio and director Tim Burton declining some of your original casting suggestions. Are you happy with the cast you ended up?

JJ: Absolutely. In fact, I'm really glad we changed course on the cast. I was aiming for quality of singing rather than actual acting ability and in retrospect, that was the wrong way to go about it. Lilly James as Christine fits extremely well and Luke Evans as the Phantom was about as perfect a fit for the role as you can get. Add in a Broadway legend in Catherine Zeta-Jones and Adam Pascal as well as veterans Ewan McGregor, Nicole Kidman and newcomer Naomi Scott and you have a cast that I believe is a winner.

PD: You had two very different films released last season: Oh Deer and Sunny Days. Oh Deer became one of the rare successful animated films for the studio. Do you plan on developing more animated films for the studio?

JJ: Of course! I am certainly working out plans for a film revolving a dinosaur surviving the mass extinction and becoming the symbol of a Native-American tribe. In a way, I like to consider this my version of The Good Dinosaur and I believe this is the movie that builds on what I learned regarding direction in an animated film. Of course, that's quite a few seasons away so allow me to tell you about a more recent project coming next season called Greenwater Amusements. As a fan of amusement parks, I wondered what it would be like if the rides in an amusement park could transform into humans whenever the park is closed. Consider this the Pixar formula on steroids. I'm really proud of what I did with the film and I feel it's a film that will not only resonate with kids, but adults as well.

PD: Now on to Sunny Days, which failed to connect with both critics and audiences alike. What do you think went wrong with that project?

JJ: Honestly, it's a mixture of two things. I focused more on the facts when I should have focused on getting the personalities of the main characters down-pat. There's a lot of shifty behavior from Sunny from her past that I might not have covered. But even if I had gotten it absolutely right, it wouldn't have changed the fact that wrestling (and to a lesser extent Sunny herself) is not very marketable in the theatre. That's no one's fault, that's just the industry is. Unless if you're talking about a big star or you create your own universe akin to Doctor Love, it's going to be a hard-sell. But it is what it is, an experiment that just didn't work out. It's nothing to be ashamed of and it's something that can be learned for future movies.

PD: What's next for you?

JJ: Well to start off, for any Crow fans out there reading this, I have a special surprise dedicated to you. One that I hope to make into it's own franchise if successful. Another project (Kiss Me Katie) is an expansion on a PSA that inspired me and made me wonder if there was a way to expand the setting and tone while also making it fresh for modern eyes and keeping it's core message. Having already mentioned Greenwater Amusements and the dinosaur film, I have also been talking with Oliver Stone about creating a film series, depicting the story of four young far-left activists who wind up changing the course of not just America, but the world due to the power of their voices and numbers. And finally, the biggest ticket of all, a sequel to the Phantom of the Opera has been written and is set to debut in Season 18. I'll admit, I am a fan of the concept of a sequel to the musical and feel that if done absolutely right that it could be amazing. I'll argue that Love Never Dies did admirably to continue the story, but there are massive improvements that must be made (Raoul and Madame Giry being written to oblivion, The Phantom's actions, his amusement park and Meg's descent to insanity). It also aims to expand on not just the universe itself, but it's character, telling the story of his past while revealing what happened before the end of The Opera.

On the TV front, I will be writing a sequel to the famed My Little Pony series Friendship is Magic called Friendship Fables. I like to consider it a slightly more grown-up take on the series and it hopes to tackle more mature and adult topics while keeping it's innocence for children. Afterwards, there's no telling where I go from here. All I can say is that I hope to continue producing a rate of quality that pleases not just the studio but all those involved.