Cats
Short description
Cats is a musical fantasy film based on Andrew Lloyd Webber's long-running stage show, which was itself inspired by T. S. Eliot's collection of poems about practical cats. Over the course of a single night, a tribe of cats known as the Jellicles gathers for their annual ball, where one of their number will be chosen to ascend to the Heaviside Layer and return to a new life. Among those taking part are the white cat Victoria, the tribe's leader Old Deuteronomy, the mysterious Mr. Mistoffelees, the showy Rum Tum Tugger, the refined Bustopher Jones, and the shunned Grizabella, while the scheming Macavity has plans of his own. Tom Hooper directs, working from a screenplay he wrote with Lee Hall.
The film stars Francesca Hayward as Victoria, with Judi Dench, Idris Elba, Jason Derulo, Jennifer Hudson and James Corden among the cast. It was produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Debra Hayward, and shot in the United Kingdom with Chinese and American backing on a budget of about 95 million dollars. It ranks as the sixth feature Hooper directed, following Red Dust, The Damned United, The King's Speech, Les Misérables and The Danish Girl.
Released in December 2019, the film did not recover its cost, earning roughly 77 million dollars worldwide. Audiences were overwhelmingly negative: on IMDb it holds 2.8 out of 10 from about 59,000 votes, and on TMDB 4.1 out of 10 from over a thousand. A critics' rating of 3.9 out of 10 from 335 reviews places professional reaction in the same range.
What's left behind the scenes
- In an article on The Daily Beast website in April 2020, visual effects specialists reported anonymously that they spent six months working on the trailer, which was only two and a half minutes long, and only four months working on the entire film. They had to work 90 hours a week, sometimes even spending the night at their workplaces to meet the deadline. This exhausting race, as well as the difficult relationship between the visual effects specialists and Hooper, were at the root of all the problems with the film.
- Originally, an animated film was planned, but Tom Hooper was later appointed director of the project.
- In an April 2020 article by The Daily Beast, visual effects specialists reported anonymously that it took them six months to work on the trailer, which was only two and a half minutes long, and only four months to work on the entire film. They had to work 90 hours a week, sometimes even staying overnight at their workplaces, to meet the deadline.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
