Along with the truly unforgettable trailer for Cats, Universal Pictures has also released the first poster for the “epic musical,” as it’s officially described. Oscar-winning The King’s Speech director Tom Hooper takes the reins of the long-running Andrew Lloyd Webber stage musical, adapting it for the screen using “advanced fur technology.” Hooper previously put his own spin on a classic musical with 2012’s Les Miserables, which has its moments but kind of misses the point as Hooper went for gritty realism and live singing to very mixed bag results.
The approach for Cats, however, is just absolutely bonkers, and that’s on top of the fact that Cats is already a weird musical. The plot, so to speak, is basically just a bunch of cats singing their individual songs, trying to decide which of them gets to die. That’s it. That’s the story. For the movie, Hooper and his team have transformed a truly random assortment of celebrities into kind-of cats using visual effects. The result, as evidenced by the trailer, is quite possibly the horror movie event of the year.
The Cats poster boasts the tagline “You Will Believe,” which in the wake of that instantly iconic trailer feels more like a threat than anything else. Visually I’m still baffled about the proportion choices here. The cats stand up and move like humans, and yet are supposedly cat-sized on these oversized sets. But even then the sets feel somehow too big for actual cats? Like we’re in a weird Alice in Wonderland sort of world. How small does Tom Hooper think cats are?
Whatever Cats ends up being, I truly do admire the massively ambitious swing Hooper is taking here. Check out the poster below. The film stars James Corden, Jennifer Hudson, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Ian McKellen, Rebel Wilson, and introduces Francesca Hayward. Cats prowls into theaters on December 20th.
Here’s the official synopsis for Cats:
Oscar®-winning director Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech, Les Misérables, The Danish Girl) transforms Andrew Lloyd Webber’s record-shattering stage musical into a breakthrough cinematic event.
Cats stars James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, Rebel Wilson and introduces Royal Ballet principal dancer Francesca Hayward in her feature film debut.
Featuring Lloyd Webber’s iconic music and a world-class cast of dancers under the guidance of Tony-winning choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler (Hamilton, In the Heights), the film reimagines the musical for a new generation with spectacular production design, state-of-the-art technology, and dance styles ranging from ballet to contemporary, hip-hop to jazz, street to tap.
Universal Pictures presents a Working Title Films and Amblin Entertainment production, in association with Monumental Pictures and The Really Useful Group. Cats is produced by Debra Hayward, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Tom Hooper. The screenplay is by Lee Hall (Billy Elliot, Rocketman) and Hooper, based on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot and the stage musical by Lloyd Webber. Cats is executive produced by Lloyd Webber, Steven Spielberg, Angela Morrison and Jo Burn.
One of the longest-running shows in West End and Broadway history, the stage musical “Cats” received its world premiere at the New London Theatre in 1981, where it played for 21 years and earned the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Musical. In 1983, the Broadway production became the recipient of seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and ran for an extraordinary 18 years. Since opening in London in 1981, “Cats” has continuously appeared on stage around the globe, to date having played to 81 million people in more than fifty countries and in nineteen languages. It is regarded as one of the most successful musicals of all time.
