Well, after seeing people's comments on here about who should have played christine...I just had to give my input!! I should first say that I absolutely loved the movie!!! I thought they did a beautiful job on focusing more on the conflicted romance in the story than the murders and the phantom's disfigured face (as past movies have done). However, while I don't think that emmy rossum was the best christine daae (I agree with you all on that - although I think she did a decent job), I do not think that Sarah Brightman would have been the best either.
Now before you jump on me for saying that, let me explain to you what my perspective is. I have no doubt that sarah was probably amazing in the theatre production of the phantom of the opera because she can project her voice beautifully and, just visually, she has great movement and she looks great to begin with. However, she lacks a few of the smaller qualities which are needed for movies. For example, you will notice when she sings that she either shows very dramatic expressions on her face, or no expression on her face. I have seen her in quite a few events and she seems to rely on dramatic make-up quite a bit (all of which is typical for stage actors because you need dramatic makeup and big expressions with you face because people ar the back of the room have to be able to see those expressions).
The problem is that for movies, this is the opposite of what you need to be able to do. For movies, they do not want big expressions but rather subtle movements with your eyes and subtle expressions that can portray a world of meaning. Now, I don't claim to know what srah brightman can and cannot do, but I can say that even when I have seen her in interviews, she doesn't seem to portray these subtle emotions etc. So, I guess I am just trying to say that before you shoot down the movie or emmy rossum completely in favor of sarah, maybe consider the reasons why they might not have wanted her - maybe they just didn't have the time to wait for her to make the transition from stage to movie actor and learn about those differences??!!

It was so obvious that the lead role was written for Sarah Brightman's voice...and Emily Rossum couldn't hope to come close. She didn't. Acting and singing were generally bad, though it was a visual stunner. Pity.

First off I'd like to state that I did enjoy this movie. It was a beautiful piece of work with an allstar cast, but as much as I like Emmy Rossum, she cannot compare to Sarah Brightman. Jacob was ignorant enough to state that Ms. Brightman could not enunciate well onstage and finds Ms. Rossum "easier on the eyes". If that were the case, then Sarah wouldn't have been the ORIGINAL Christine Daae to begin with. Enunciation is incredibly important in theatre, so its clearly something you know nothing about. Sarah Brightman is gorgeous and talented and to say something like that would be quite typical of the male mind. I hope you come across this. Any more comments, feel free and email me, I'd be happy to enlighten you.