Cats (2019) (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

The Producers took only four years. Broadway - 2001; film - 2005.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The trailer was amazing-can't wait to see the film..

I'm not a musical fan, but I'm very interested in seeing this film. I saw the trailer today before "The Wizard of Oz" and it sold me.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I'm not a musical fan, but I'm very interested in seeing this film.

Why? I'm not meaning to be judgmental here at all; this is a serious question. Speaking as a musical fan, Cats traditionally has little to offer beyond the appeal of its music and choreography because the plot is rather limited. So I'm genuinely curious what appealed to you about the trailer.

Also, here's a new featurette discussing the new song for the movie which Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote with Taylor Swift:

 

[Robert Crawford]

Why? I'm not meaning to be judgmental here at all; this is a serious question. Speaking as a musical fan, Cats traditionally has little to offer beyond the appeal of its music and choreography because the plot is rather limited. So I'm genuinely curious what appealed to you about the trailer.

Also, here's a new featurette discussing the new song for the movie which Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote with Taylor Swift:

That's exactly what caught my attention.

 

[Robert Crawford]

That's exactly what caught my attention.

One more thing. Unlike many around here, I enjoy CGI especially when it's very good which appears to be the case based on the trailer I watched. Seeing those actual actors in costumes wouldn't appeal to me as much.

 

[David Weicker]

Speaking as a musical fan, Cats traditionally has little to offer beyond the appeal of its music and choreography because the plot is rather limited.

As a Musicals fan, I know there are generally two types of musicals - ‘book’ musicals and all the rest.

the ‘plots’ in the Fred & Gingers were threadbare to say the least. The same goes for the Busby Berkeley films. Revue musicals have existed since before the Ziegfeld Follies. The performance of the numbers is the reason for the show (often with a plot shoehorned in to link them).

I know that it is trendy to hate Cats, but the millions and millions and millions who kept going to Broadway and London and around the world put that opinion in a minority

 

[TJPC]

I find there are people who love musicals and people who have only seen “Cats” and “Phantom of the Opera”. Also, how many people out there think they have seen an opera because they have seen POTO?

 

[cinemiracle]

I find there are people who love musicals and people who have only seen “Cats” and “Phantom of the Opera”. Also, how many people out there think they have seen an opera because they have seen POTO?

I agree with you, There are people who only see the long running musicals and there are others like myself, who see every musical.I am also a massive fan of ballet and other dance forms as well as many operas. I also prefer live theater than seeing movies-most of which are not worth seeing as they are either remakes or sequels and lack originality, unlike the good old days when sequels never existed.It's been a couple of years since I last went to a cinema and you can blame that on the brain-dead idiots who use their mobiles during a movie.

 

[Jake Lipson]

No Golden Globes for Cats -- it will miss the deadline to compete for those, and many other year-end awards, as it won't be ready to screen until mid-December, just before its December 20 release date:

https://www.indiewire.com/2019/11/cats-miss-awards-deadlines-holiday-release-oscars-1202188369/

 

[cinemiracle]

No Golden Globes for Cats -- it will miss the deadline to compete for those, and many other year-end awards, as it won't be ready to screen until mid-December, just before its December 20 release date:

https://www.indiewire.com/2019/11/cats-miss-awards-deadlines-holiday-release-oscars-1202188369/

Winning an award for a movie means very little in my opinion.. A disappointing film can be a huge hit at the box office,whereas a masterpiece can be a flop.I hated JOKER but look at how much it took at the box office? Winning an award all comes down to marketing and we are now inundated with award shows galore. Do many people ever care about whether a film that they want to see, wins an award or not? I don't. . How many of you can even remember what films have won any awards his year? People will generally see a film regardless of whether it won/wins an award or not. Luckily we now have so many streaming services to choose from and no longer have to endure people using their mobiles during a movie.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Awards matter to the studios, especially on year-end releases, because they greatly increase the profile of the film. Given the content of the, um, story, I don't really think that Cats would be a major awards player in above-the-line categories, but it is big news that they won't be able to make the deadline, nonetheless. For the Golden Globes, they might have been able to get a Best Musical or Comedy nomination, but I doubt it would win. But also, the original song "Beautiful Ghosts" won't be eligible in that category either, and it might have had a shot.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The single for the end credits version of the new song "Beautiful Ghosts" will be out digitally tomorrow. This is the version performed by Taylor Swift, rather than the one in the body of the film where it will be performed by Francesca Hayward.

There is still no information on the release date for the CD soundtrack, which is what I am more interested in than just a single.

 

[Jake Lipson]

New trailer:



This looks awful.

 

[Johnny Angell]

New trailer:



This looks awful.

You say this is based on the musical by AL Webber? Could a fooled me.

 

[TravisR]

New trailer:



This looks awful.

Yeah but it's opening on December 20 so it doesn't have alot of competition that weekend.

This looks so terrible and the word of mouth is so bad that I don't think people will even bother to see it ironically. Universal better pray that this movie was cheap.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Universal better pray that this movie was cheap.

It looks cheap in a bad way, but not cheap in an inexpensive way. I've also heard rumblings that the reason it won't make it in time for Golden Globes consideration is because they're scrambling to improve the CGI after the bad response to the first trailer. I don't know if that is true or not, but if it is, it's going to add to the cost.

I'll see it once because I'm too curious to see what they've done to the show to skip it. But I don't think it will do well. Jumanji and Greatest Showman proved that you can counterprogram Star Wars if you have another movie that really strikes a chord with audiences, but I don't see this being able to do that. Also, neither Jumanji nor Greatest Showman actually opened day-and-date with Star Wars, so it had time to absorb a lot of upfront demand before they entered the marketplace during the following week. That's not the case here. If I were Universal, I would at least move it to December 25 so that Star Wars will have opened first. But they appear to be unconcerned and don't want to blink. Even on December 25, though, Little Women will be a much stronger option for families looking for not Star Wars.

Why is the trailer pretending that the #4 longest-running musical in Broadway history is not a musical? The tagline "Many will compete, only one can win" makes it sound like some sort of Cat Hunger Games, which is a really bizarre way to market Cats because the show has nothing to do with that. The cats introduce themselves and other cats, and then one of them gets chosen to be reborn and that's the entire plot, if you could even call it that. All this dialogue, which does not exist in the sung-through show, makes it seem like they're trying to give the story more structure. But I don't think that will work because what's there is so thin that it won't support more. Trying to hoist a more specific plot onto it will just draw attention to how stupid it is.

The show kind of works because the music, and especially the dancing, is cool enough to distract you from the stupidity of it all. Here, it all just looks ridiculous, both in the design and the attempt to make it more serious, so it will draw attention to everything not working.

 

[TravisR]

One thing in its favor is that Cats has a fanbase that will want to check it out in movie form. That's not to say that it's big enough to easily compete with Star Wars but If the movie is good, maybe that can get some positive word of mouth going. However, I wish them good luck because I think they need it.

 

[Wayne_j]

Yeah but it's opening on December 20 so it doesn't have alot of competition that weekend.

This looks so terrible and the word of mouth is so bad that I don't think people will even bother to see it ironically. Universal better pray that this movie was cheap.

It opens during the first week of Star Wars which should be an automatic billion dollar film at least. That is competition.

 

[TravisR]

It opens during the first week of Star Wars which should be an automatic billion dollar film at least. That is competition.

Sorry, my sarcasm doesn't always translate into text.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I'm going to see it, but I'm going to see Star Wars first. I'll get around to Cats at some point, but in no way is it a priority and I'm not sure when I'll see it.