Movies & TV / Columns

A Look at the Fallout From Cats’ Disastrous Release

December 28, 2019 | Posted by Steve Gustafson
Cats Movie

I’m going to avoid writing any cat puns in this as all the good ones have been taken but to call this move a Cat-astrophe is an understatement. And that’s the only pun I’ll be using. 

Cats is looking to be one movie we really could judge by its trailer, as many were perplexed with its marketing and its questionable CGI. With it opening up to negative reviews and dismal box office performance, you don’t have to look hard to see where this went wrong. 

Still, with a cast of this caliber, is it really as bad as people think? 

Before the movie, when one thought of Cats, its sterling Broadway reputation and iconic songs quickly came to mind. It was a matter of time before Hollywood would puts its claws in it and see if they could make some money off of it. With a $95+ million budget and strong cast, it looked to be a good bet to make a tidy profit and maybe pull in some awards. 

Then the first trailer hit and put the buzz into a tailspin and things looked less than purr-fect. OK, that was the last one. Cats pulled in $1.2 million in its global box office opening and left plenty of confused fans and critics wondering what they just watched. “The final verdict is still out on Cats, but one of the longest-running Broadway shows of all time couldn’t make a dent at the box office,” said Jeff Bock, box office analyst for Exhibitor Relations.

And those award aspirations? Universal removed Cats from its FYC (For Your Consideration) page. The page lists the studio’s qualifying movies along with a guide to their individual categories and a schedule of upcoming screenings in various cities. A source told Variety the movie isn’t featured on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ streaming platform, where members can watch Oscar contenders

Rotten Tomatoes reports that 18% of critics have given Cats a positive review based on 218 reviews, with an average rating of 3.77/10. The consensus says:

“Despite its fur-midable cast, this Cats adaptation is a clawful mistake that will leave most viewers begging to be put out of their mew-sery.”

In one of my favorite reviews, Peter Debruge of Variety called the movie “one of those once-in-a-blue-moon embarrassments that mars the résumés of great actors (poor Idris Elba, already scarred enough as the villainous Macavity) and trips up the careers of promising newcomers (like ballerina Francesca Hayward, whose wide-eyed, mouth-agape Victoria displays one expression for the entire movie)”. 

Me-ouch!

Have you seen it? Do the bad reviews make you want to see if it’s as bad as they say? 

article topics :

Cats, Steve Gustafson