A ‘Cats’ movie starring taylor swift in the works
“Cats” is one of the longest-running musicals of all time. The Andrew Lloyd Webber classic first premiered in 1981 and ran until 2002; it has since been performed all over the world and has been translated into over 20 languages. Based on the 1939 collection of poems “Old Possum’s Practical Book of Cats” by T.S. Eliot, the musical tells the story of the Jellicles, a tribe of cats who live in a garbage dump and must decide who among them will get an extra life.
Now, the beloved show is being adapted for the big screen in a movie starring pop stars Taylor Swift and Academy Award-winner Jennifer Hudson.
A source told The Hollywood Reporter that Hudson will play Grizabella, the character who sings the hit song “Memory” in the play, while Swift will portray Bombalurina, a flirtatious cat who has a notable solo in another song from the musical, “Macavity the Mystery Cat.”
Other big names attached to the project include “The Late Late Show” host/”Carpool Karaoke” maven James Corden, as well as legendary stage and screen actor Ian McKellen. (McKellen is set to play Old Deuteronomy, a wise and ancient cat.)
Lee Hall, who wrote the screenplay for “Billy Elliot,” is adapting “Cats” for the screen. The film will be directed by Tom Hooper, who directed the 2012 film adaptation of another classic musical, “Les Miserables.”
While the original Broadway run of “Cats” ended back in 2000 on Broadway (it ended two years later on the London stage), it was revived on Broadway in 2016 for one year. If you want to catch a stage production of the famous show before the movie hits theaters, you may get a chance to do so, as a national tour is set to launch in January 2019.
Production on the “Cats” movie will begin later this year in the U.K. Are you excited to see “Cats” on the big screen?