Le Fant?me de l'Op?ra (English: The Phantom of the Opera) is a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serialisation in "Le Gaulois" from September 23, 1909 to January 8, 1910. Initially, the story sold very poorly upon publication in book form and was even out of print several times during the twentieth century;[1] it is overshadowed by the success of its various film and stage adaptations. The most notable of these were the 1925 film depiction, Ken Hill's 1976 musical at the Theatre Royal Stratford East followed twelve years later by Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1986 musical, and Lloyd Webber and Joel Schumacher's 2004 film.

There are currently five English translations of Le Fant?me de l'Op?ra. The first English translation, by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos in 1911, although it sometimes omits sentences or entire paragraphs, is still the most widespread version of the book in English due its existence now being in the public domain. Due to its being the first English translation (and the only one up until 1990), publishers may assume that it is unabridged, and so will republish it as a "complete and unabridged" or "original" version, unknowingly misleading those who purchase these copies.[citation needed] Currently, four other English translations are in circulation: a 1990 edition by Lowell Bair; The Essential Phantom of the Opera : The Definitive, Annotated edition of Leroux?s Classical Novel, edited by Leonard Wolf, published in 1996; another, by Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, published in 2004; and a completely new translation by Mireille Ribi?re published in 2009 to coincide with the centenary of the first publication.

There have been numerous literary and dramatic works based on The Phantom of the Opera, ranging from musicals to films to children's books. The best known stage and screen adaptations of the novel are probably the 1925 silent film version starring Lon Chaney, the 1962 film version starring Herbert Lom made by Hammer Film Productions and the 1986 Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, which first opened in London's West End with Michael Crawford in the title role, Sarah Brightman as Christine Daae, and Steve Barton as Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny. This musical was adapted into a 2004 film, directed by Joel Schumacher. It starred Gerard Butler as Erik, Emmy Rossum as Christine Daae, and Patrick Wilson as Raoul. Brian DePalma wrote and directed a 1974 film called Phantom of the Paradise, which was loosely based on The Phantom of the Opera.