Posted on 07/20/2018 7:14:23 AM PDT by EdnaMode
Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift, James Corden and Ian McKellen have been cast in Working Title’s upcoming movie version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s smash musical “Cats.”
Tom Hooper, the Oscar-winning director of “The King’s Speech,” will direct “Cats,” which is set to begin shooting in Britain in November. The screenplay by Lee Hall (“Billy Elliot”) is based on Lloyd Webber’s musical, which was itself adapted from a book of children’s poems by T.S. Eliot.
Hudson, who won an Oscar in 2007 for her breakout role in “Dreamgirls,” will play Grizabella, the former “glamour cat” who falls on hard times and gets to sing about it in showstopper “Memory.” It’s unclear which roles will be played by Swift, Corden and McKellen.
The Daily Mail was the first to report the casting news, which was confirmed to Variety.
“Cats” is one of the most successful musicals in history, enjoying long runs both in London’s West End and on Broadway. The possibility of a movie version has long been bandied about.
Working Title’s Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan brought another beloved stage musical, “Les Miserables,” to the big screen in 2012. That film was nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards and won a statuette for Anne Hathaway as best supporting actress.
Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats,” published in 1939, is a collection of poems about creatures known as “Jellicle cats” and their secret world, but lacks an overarching story line. Lloyd Webber’s musical stitches the poems together into a tale of cats seeking some sort of feline redemption in the “Heaviside layer,” somewhere above London, “up, up, up past the Russell Hotel.”
Besides tired and tattered Grizabella, other characters include Old Deuteronomy, Macavity, Skimbleshanks and the Rum Tum Tugger.
Great casting!
:-). Mrs. rktman “took” me to see the play once upon a time. I was snoozing within 5 minutes. She was not happy, If I want to see “furries”(which I don’t) I would simply go to one of the local casinos where they gather once a year. Got caught up in them by accident (no, really) once. If it works for them, well, okay. Me, not so much. LOL!
They’re milking it for everything.
Well at least they're giving unknowns a chance at stardom via quality performances *eye roll*.
This one has 'The Wiz' written all over it. Big names. Famous title. Lots of hype. Bomb.
I skip anything with Ian McKellan in it.
If my Tay Tay wasn’t famous she would be a crazy cat lady already.
After seeing Lea Salonga and Philip Quast perform in Les Miserables, watching the likes of Anne Hathaway and Russel Crowe sing on film was like 2 hours of nails on a chalkboard.
Hollywood stars are put in these re-make musicals for pure marketing and sales. Not because they are good at musical theater.
The cats will all be gender spade and neutered!
I thought they already made a movie version of the musical a few years back. Elaine Page was in it and Sir John Mills IIRC. It was really well done. Don’t see how this tops that.
This is nothing.
They are casting Hugh Jackman in a big screen remake of “The Amazing Alexander.”
It’s better than “Cats.”
You’ll want to see it again and again.
Gosh I forgot that one. F-in hilarious.
LOL
You can bet they’ll be some faggotry in it.
I saw Cats onstage in DC decades ago. Fantastic.
This could be great, if they don’t find a way to screw it up.
I’ve seen Cats 3 or 4 times. I think it’s rather boring and have gone with other people who hadn’t seen it. I have tickets to Phantom in San Diego the end of August. Have seen it 3 times and am looking forward to it again. I love musicals and go as often as I can but won’t pay to just see anything. Last time someone asked me to go see Cats with them I said no. lol
I’m don’t have much appreciation for Broadway Musicals. I fell asleep at the last one I went to and wondering why I dropped $700 on a bunch of tickets to a play.
But, a few weeks ago, my wife wanted to see a movie adaptation of a musical. Some outfit is filming Broadway productions and doing a small two-day run at select theatres. This one was a play called Bandstand. It was about returning WWII vets dealing with undiagnosed PTSD and a tight labor market. The vets were all musicians who formed a band. I have to say that is was excellent and I truly enjoyed it. Not enough to go again, but it was really good.
Yesss!
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