Cats (2019) (1 Viewer)

[benbess]

I agree that this looks iffy at best. I do like musicals, but I never saw the Broadway show of this, which seemed both surreal and unpleasant. The one thing that gives me hope is director Tom Hooper, who has directed a number of things that I really like, including the very good miniseries Daniel Deronda from way back in 2002, as well as the movies The King's Speech, Les Miserables, and The Danish Girl. Based on Hooper's track record I'll see it, but.....???

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I just can't imagine that this movie will be anything other than painfully awful.

If by some miracle it gets good reviews, I'll see it, but they'll have to be radioactive levels of glowing!

 

[Robert Crawford]

I'm not a big musical fan, but, I'm looking forward to watching this in a Dolby Atmos theater.

 

[TJPC]

I have always loved the music, but found the show mind bogglingly yawn inducing on Broadway and in the road show production. If the movie can add more story and visuals, it can only be an improvement. Otherwise as a show it makes a nice 2 CD set.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The one thing that gives me hope is director Tom Hooper, who has directed a number of things that I really like

I agree with liking Tom Hooper's work. I am a much, much bigger fan of Les Miserables than of Cats, and I thought he did a fantastic job as director of that film, which is great and was my favorite movie of 2012. I also loved The Danish Girl and liked The King's Speech. However, this year has given us two other films from directors I normally really like that just missed the mark. Richard Linklater with Where'd You Go, Bernadette and most recently Bill Condon with The Good Liar are way under par with their usual work. It would not surprise me if this completes that trifecta. I'd love to be wrong. We'll see.

in a Dolby Atmos theater.

Do you think Cats will get booked in Atmos theaters? I suppose it depends on how widespread Atmos support is in your area. It is opening on December 20, and we already know that Star Wars will have a lock on the biggest screens and all premium auditoriums at that time. For The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, I'm pretty sure Disney required a commitment from the theaters to book it in their biggest auditoriums for a month in order to get it. This is why my IMAX theater in Indiana, which also has 70mm capabilities, was unable to show The Hateful Eight, because they were booked solid with an IMAX 70mm print of The Force Awakens.

 

[Chris Will]

The comedy bits in the trailer were horrible. Why does Corden need a Corden moment? Why does Rebel Wilson need to do slapstick? I just rolled my eyes at those moments. I've never seen the show but, I enjoy the album. The trailer is not convincing me that I want to spend a few hours of my time watching this movie. Maybe I'll just listen to the album.

Why do they always try and change ALW shows for the big screen? They tried to do this odd, talk some lines instead of sing on Phantom and it didn't work. Evita worked, IMO, because they didn't try and alter it much.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Variety now says that Cats will be ready in time to be considered for the Golden Globes after all:

But sources tell Variety that “Cats” has been scheduled to screen for the Hollywood Foreign Press in early December, which could put it into contention for multiple nominations in the Globes’ best musical or comedy motion picture categories.

The Golden Globe nominations are announced on Dec. 9, and HFPA members must see all 2019 films by Dec. 4.

Universal Pictures, which is distributing the film, declined to comment.

Even with a Globes screening set, director Tom Hooper is still racing through Thanksgiving to finish a print by the deadline for HFPA voters. More than 100 visual effects artists were employed to work on “Cats,” which is using a lengthy and costly process to add CGI cat fur to the bodies of all the live-action actors.

https://variety.com/2019/film/news/cats-movie-golden-globes-musical-1203410667/

 

[Robert Crawford]

Do you think Cats will get booked in Atmos theaters? I suppose it depends on how widespread Atmos support is in your area. It is opening on December 20, and we already know that Star Wars will have a lock on the biggest screens and all premium auditoriums at that time. For The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, I'm pretty sure Disney required a commitment from the theaters to book it in their biggest auditoriums for a month in order to get it. This is why my IMAX theater in Indiana, which also has 70mm capabilities, was unable to show The Hateful Eight, because they were booked solid with an IMAX 70mm print of The Force Awakens.

Yes, one of my local Atmos theaters doesn't have Star Wars booked in it on December 20th, so I'm thinking "Cats" will play there.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Yes, one of my local Atmos theaters doesn't have Star Wars booked in it on December 20th, so I'm thinking "Cats" will play there.

You don't think they might use that screen for the "Jumanji" sequel? It'll only be a week old at that point...

 

[TJPC]

I buy the soundtracks of all the movie musicals I can get. A cd of “highlights” from the soundtrack for the movie is to be released on Dec. 10th. I am not about to buy it. Has anyone heard of when or if the complete recordings will come out?

 

[Jake Lipson]

A cd of “highlights” from the soundtrack for the movie is to be released on Dec. 10th.

December 10th has come and gone. The CD you are talking about was only announced last Friday, the 13th, and will be released on the 20th alongside the film.

There has been no official announcement about a complete version.

However, Universal also did this with Les Miserables in 2012, which Tom Hooper also directed. The single-disc highlights version came out timed to the theatrical release. Christmas was a Tuesday that year and the soundtrack was inexplicably dated to release on that day, even though most stores were closed, and it took me a while to find a copy. The eventual 2-disc version (which had much more material on it but was still not complete) came out on Mach 19, 2013, a week before the Blu-ray release, to support that.

If Cats is to receive the same treatment, then I would expect similar timing.

However, that's a big if. Les Miserables was a big success, so a double dip on the CD was warranted. I think this movie is going to tank hard, and if so, they may conclude that a larger soundtrack is not worth releasing.

 

[Tino]

I am a much, much bigger fan of Les Miserables than of Cats, and I thought he did a fantastic job as director of that film, which is great and was my favorite movie of 2012.

I agree 100%

 

[cinemiracle]

I agree 100%

LES MIS cannot be compared to CATS .They are vastly different musicals and from different countries. The film of LES MIZ was about as bad as a musical film could be. Not surprisingly that is flopped at the box office. It was a major disappointment.Should have been renamed as LES FIZ..Such a shame as it was one of the most powerful musicals in decades on stage but sadly not on film.

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

LES MIS cannot be compared to CATS .They are vastly different musicals and from different countries. The film of LES MIZ was about as bad as a musical film could be. Not surprisingly that is flopped at the box office. It was a major disappointment.Should have been renamed as LES FIZ..Such a shame as it was one of the most powerful musicals in decades on stage but sadly not on film.

Which film version are you talking about because the 2012 version grossed $441MM worldwide off a $61MM budget. Hardly a flop.

 

[Wayne_j]

I didn't hate the 2012 Les Mis but it was a very bad decision to record most of the singing live on set for the quality of the music.

 

[Edwin-S]

They should have made an animated version of this musical. A.proper 2D animated version could have been great.

 

[Tino]

LES MIS cannot be compared to CATS .They are vastly different musicals and from different countries. The film of LES MIZ was about as bad as a musical film could be. Not surprisingly that is flopped at the box office. It was a major disappointment.Should have been renamed as LES FIZ..Such a shame as it was one of the most powerful musicals in decades on stage but sadly not on film.

I don’t know where to even start......

 

[Tino]

Which film version are you talking about because the 2012 version grossed $441MM worldwide off a $61MM budget. Hardly a flop.

Hell Neil, don’t let the facts stand in the way of an opinion right?

 

[GlennF]

Well, this is a movie, with the horrid reaction the first trailer received, that needs all the help it can get to recoup its costs. The fact that we have not seen a review yet means the studio put an embargo on them as close to the release as possible. I was hoping against hope, by some miracle it would be good, and I still like to be the "cockeyed optimist" but to me this spells more trouble.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The review embargo is lifting Wednesday afternoon I believe. Critics screenings were yesterday.