Washington, June 29 Theatre impresario Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber has revealed that Michael Jackson wanted to star in the movie version of the hit musical 'Phantom Of The Opera'.

After watching the show, which debuted in 1988, numerous times the King of Pop discussed seriously with Lloyd about starring as 'The Phantom' in a big screen adaptation of the hit musical.

But Lloyd Webber could not make it happen for Jackson back then, as he wasn't ready to turn it into a film.

However, when the helmer did make the movie in 2004, he cast Gerard Butler.

"The story got to him. I think he had a connection with the lonely, tortured musician. He found the idea of somebody working through music and having a girl as a muse very intriguing - and he loved that there was illusion in the show," Contactmusic quoted Webber as saying.

"Michael became interested in playing The Phantom himself, in a movie version of the show. We talked about it a lot, but we'd only just opened and, at the time, I felt that it was too early for it to become a film. I felt his interest in Phantom was because he was interested in doing something theatrical himself," Webber added. (ANI)