Universal has told theaters carrying the horrifying new movie musical, “Cats,” that it will be updating the movie, fixing some of the visual effects, and re-releasing the film into theaters after it was widely panned by critics and ignored by audiences.
The initial reviews for “Cats” were, in short, brutal. The movie, adapted from the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical of the same name, is widely considered to be one of the worst movies of 2019, if not of the decade. Critics have described the picture, alternately, as a “monstrosity,” as a “disaster,” and just flat-out disturbing.
The reviews do make for some hilarious reading. The London Evening Standard’s movie critic described “Cats” as worse than a horror movie, largely because of the visual effects, which make every human acting in the movie musical look like a half-naked, part-feline, space alien.
“Nearly as obscene as The Human Centipede … It all just feels so wrong,” David Sexton said. “Whether they are human or feline, what on earth has happened in those smoothed out groins, so much exposed by the leotards? And let’s not think about those tails that keep erecting for emphasis. All of the characters appear much more to advantage when dressed in clothes (whatever the logic of that).”
The Guardian added that the movie would make more sense as a post-apocalyptic morality tale: “The setting is London, it does look post-nuclear. There aren’t any people, so maybe there were Bomb blasts—or maybe a bio disaster, causing cat-human mutants with digital fur.”
Variety groaned, “Nine may not be enough lives for some of the stars to live down their involvement in this poorly conceived and executed adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit musical.”
One critic said, simply, “Congratulations to dogs.”
The best review might have come from US Weekly which said it “wasn’t as bad” as reported.
The response has been so awful that Universal made the drastic decision, the Hollywood Reporter says, to completely re-edit the movie and fix the film’s visual problems.
“On Friday — the movie’s opening day — Universal notified thousands of theaters they will be receiving an updated version of Tom Hooper’s troubled film with “some improved visual effects,” according to THR. “The move is unheard of for a finished title already in release, according to cinema operators and Hollywood studio executives. Insiders say it is being done at Hooper’s request.”
“The updated movie will be available to download Sunday via a satellite server, while exhibitors who don’t have access to the server will receive a hard drive by Tuesday, per Universal’s note. The studio is asking that theaters replace the current print of “Cats” as soon as possible,” the outlet added.
That may not be enough to save “Cats.” Responding to the terrible reviews, audiences mostly stayed away from what Universal had hoped would be a Christmas blockbuster. Production company Working Title put $100 million behind the project but the movie made just $2.6 million on opening day, Friday, and a mere $6.5 million for the weekend. “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” by comparison, made more than $175 million (low for a Star Wars flick), and “Jumanji: The Next Level” — a sequel — made $26 million.