Director Joel Schumacher says the popularity of TV's "CSI" franchise made him reconsider making a film based on a Kay Scarpetta crime novel.

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"The Phantom of the Opera" filmmaker has said in the past he wanted to make a movie based on Patricia Cornwell's best-selling books about a crime-solving Virginia medical examiner.

Schumacher had refused, however, to name the actress he wanted to cast as the intrepid Kay, hinting only that he had worked with her before.

Asked if he still planned to make the film, Schumacher said the plan had been scrapped because the three popular "CSI" TV dramas left little room for another piece of crime investigation-themed entertainment.

"It's too bad," Schumacher told UPI. "Nicole Kidman and I really wanted to do it."

Kidman and Schumacher had previously worked together on "Batman Forever."