After critics’ mauling, Cats gets new version with ‘better special effects’
IT has been the most derided movie of the year, largely panned by filmgoers and critics.
Now the director of Cats has made some beyond last-minute changes to his version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical after a barrage of criticism.
Oscar-winning British filmmaker Tom Hooper has re-edited his movie – said to have cost £77million and which went into cinemas nationwide last Friday – in a move that is said to be unprecedented for a finished title.
The updated version will feature ‘some improved visual effects’, according to a memo obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. Cinemas are being asked to update to the new version as quickly as possible.
The CGI used to turn stars including Sir Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift and Idris Elba into cats has been heavily criticised by moviegoers.
Some pointed out a shot of Dame Judi Dench with a human hand despite the rest of her body having undergone a digital transformation into a cat.
Others have taken aim at the inconsistent size of the cats between different scenes, and the fact that the female cats have breasts but the males appear to have been given a digital neutering.
Hooper, who won an Oscar for The King’s Speech in 2010 and also directed the movie version of Les Miserables, admitted finishing Cats the night before the New York premiere.
The film has suffered at the box office. It grossed £3.4million in the UK and Ireland on its opening weekend, while the latest Star Wars movie, The Rise Of Skywalker – which has also divided audiences – took £14.4million. In the US Cats took £5million on its opening day compared with Star Wars’ £135million.