Honey, if it’s true that cats have nine lives, I think we may have finally found the exception to that rule. The feline mega-flop film Cats opened to disastrous box office earnings. Seriously, Cats made just $11.2 million –and that’s WORLDWIDE). 11.2 is probably Taylor Swift’s day rate just for showing up on set, let alone any salaries for the other of the stars of the film, including Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson.
The plagued-with-embarrassment film adaptation of the legendary Broadway musical was a mess out of the gate. Earlier this year, the internet erupted in shrieks of horror as Universal released it’s ‘first look’ at the CGI-heavy new film. Unlike the appeal of the warm, fuzzy, and delightful costumes that defined the Broadway show, this new version of the story featured nightmarish looking cats with frayed hair and grimaced smiles. They summoned thoughts of that monster in the dark closet leering at us that we never see but know it’s there — scary stuff.
Then there’s an odd body posture in the costumes that makes the cast appear as ghoulish hunch-backed, hybrids of human-cat-like people. Mind you; I have not even seen the film. This is my assessment after just seeing the trailer(s). A few minutes are enough. I don’t think I can stomach two hours of looking at that creepy – CGI, even as much as I love Taylor Swift and Jennifer Hudson. I mean, they also made Dame Judy Dench look terrifying! How is that even possible?
Cat’s has seemingly secured its place in the pet cemetery of cinematic history with such a weak box office opening. As if that weren’t embarrassing enough though, Buzzfeed recently delivered even more cattiness to the defunct film with the following headline:
“Universal Has Abandoned Its Academy Awards Campaign For “Cats,” Shocking Everyone Who Heard It Was Even A Plan”
That’s right. Universal Pictures quietly pulled Cats from its campaigns for Oscar consideration. Twitter erupted once again upon the breaking of this story. Many are in disbelief that Universal had ever even thought it would be an Oscar contender in the first place.
The shade of it all …
God grant me the delusional confidence of universal ever thinking cats was going to win Oscars
— Allison Kilkenny (@allisonkilkenny) December 27, 2019
Granted, the cast line up of Cats alone should have made it a shoo-in for some Oscar buzz. It’s a star-studded ride with Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Jennifer Hudson, Rebel Wilson, Idris Elba, James Corden, Jason Derulo, and Taylor Swift, with a price tag of nearly $100 million to make. Even after re-edits and re-cutting the trailers before release, it seems nothing could save this atrocity – not even Jason Derulo’s penis.
According to Buzzfeed:
Cats had been listed on Universal’s “for your consideration” page, next to other acclaimed films like Us and Queen & Slim. People on Twitter posted about Universal’s plugs for the film back in November and up until Dec. 22. …
While the studio is no longer pushing the film as part of its Oscars campaign, Cats still nabbed some accolades, including a Golden Globe Best Original Song nomination for “Beautiful Ghosts,” written by Swift and Andrew Lloyd Webber. The tune, however, didn’t make it to the final round of Academy Awards contenders, which was another disheartening hit for the film.
I don’t know, but maybe there’s still hope for an Oscar. Perhaps a new Academy Award category can be added this year for “Most Terrifying Cat Costume?” Cats would win, paws down!
