Phantom Film Soundtrack Lands at #1 on Billboard's Soundtrack Chart

Sony Classical and Really Useful Records original motion picture soundtrack recording of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera is #1 on Billboard's Soundtrack Chart and #44 on the Top 200 according to today's Soundscan report. The soundtrack continues to grow in sales as its competition drops significantly after the holiday selling period. The soundtrack is also charting at #2 on Amazon.com and #4 on itunes.

Marc Offenbach, senior vice president of sales for Sony Classical commented, "The magic of Andrew Lloyd Webber and The Phantom are defying all sales trends. With last weeks #1 and #2 best selling soundtracks Ray and Polar Express dropping 69% and 79% respectively, due to the post holiday season correction, The Phantom of The Opera JUMPS 9% to obtain the number one slot on the Billboard Soundtrack chart. This soundtrack is definitely here to stay, and the consumers are loving the new versions of these timeless songs."

Warner Bros. Pictures released the film on December 22, 2004, in approximately 625 theatres. It is doing very well at the box office in limited release and will expand to 1,200 theatres by January 21.

Sony Classical released the soundtrack recording of The Phantom of the Opera in two versions. The single-disc original soundtrack recording features all the key numbers from the score, including the new end-title song by Lloyd Webber and lyricist Charles Hart. A deluxe, specially priced two-disc version (charting at #127 on Billboard's Top 200) includes all of the music from the film in a collector's edition package. The score has also been translated and recorded in French, Italian, Spanish and German, and the soundtrack will be released internationally in those languages.

Sales of the original cast recording of the stage production of The Phantom of the Opera have surpassed 24 million units worldwide. As theatrical productions of the show continue to run around the world Ð including those on Broadway and in London's West End Ð the film version will be the first major musical to hit the screen since the Oscar-winning triumph of Chicago in 2002. The soundtrack is a hit-laden score that includes such enduring favorites as "Music of the Night," "All I Ask of You," "Think of Me," "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" and the new end-title song, "Learn To Be Lonely" (recently nominated for a Golden Globe).

The original soundtrack recording of The Phantom of the Opera will be featured on Sony Classical's Web site at www.sonyclassical.com.