Tom Hooper's Cats bombed at the box office with a $6.5 million opening weekend. Adapted from the long-running Broadway show of the same name by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Cats piqued the interest of many after its first trailer dropped to puzzling reactions back in July. The original musical is widely regarded as one of the most popular Broadway shows ever, while simultaneously acknowledged for just how bizarre it is. Although the Broadway show achieved monumental success following its initial debut, Hooper's film couldn't quite attain a similar status. Despite an all-star cast that includes Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, and Jennifer Hudson, reviews slammed Cats right out the gate. The film had simply left critics speechless, and for a variety of different reasons.
One of the biggest aspects of Cats that Hooper touted was the film's "digital fur technology" used on the actors. Unfortunately, the unsettling CGI effects turned out to be one of the film's greatest downfalls among critics. So much so, that Universal Studios recently notified theaters that they're sending out an updated version of Cats with improved visual effects. Although this kind of move is a rare occurrence, the bad reviews coupled with a soft opening of $2.6 million on Friday could have been the reasoning behind it. Despite improved visual effects now being sent out, Cats was already projected to have a low opening. Unfortunately, its box office numbers are even lower than what was originally predicted.
According to Variety, Cats came in fourth place at the domestic box office with only "$6.5 million in ticket sales." Originally, the studio hoped that the curiosity around the film would "propel domestic box office receipts to at least $15 million," but it appears Cats simply couldn't overcome the barrage of negative first reactions. Not only did Cats have a weak domestic opening, but it didn't see much improvement overseas, "kicking off in the United Kingdom and Ireland with $4.4 million." These results are rather dismal for the film which cost "$100 million before accounting for global marketing and distribution fees."
Although audiences seem to be on a slightly different page than critics, as the film currently has an audience score of 62% on Rotten Tomatoes versus the critic score of 19%, box office numbers are showing favor for an entirely different film. Cats boldly opened the same weekend as Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, with the latter dominating the box office rather quickly. Not only that, but with talked-about award season films like Bombshell, Little Women, and 1917 all opening soon on Christmas Day, Cats could be buried at the box office rather quickly.
Even though Cats still has time to find its footing at the box office during its theatrical run, Hooper's wild adaptation isn't looking to be the Jellicle choice for theater-goers. The film was certainly made with fans of the Broadway show in mind, but unfortunately, Cats doesn't quite know where to fit in with other movie-goers who may not be familiar with the source material. Even with updated visual effects now being brought in to theaters, Cats is already on track to be a massive loss for Universal. Only time will tell if the film will find its proper audience heading into the new year.
Source: Variety
