Directed by Tom Hooper, Cats has received mostly negative reviews and is a major box office bomb, but might still appeal to those who love the iconic theatre production. Cats is an adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's unique Broadway hit, and given the new music and CGI effects, some people may be wondering if Hooper added one final encore after the credits.
Cats features an ensemble cast and primarily focuses on a group of cats known as the Jellicles. After befriending a stray feline named Victoria (Francesca Hayward), the gang schools her about life in London and their quest to reach a new life known as the Heaviside Layer. Each year, Jellicles leader Old Deuteronomy (Judi Dench) picks one of the pack to be reincarnated. Meanwhile, Grizabella (Jennifer Hudson) lives a lonely life and expresses her inner turmoil through the Cats classic “Memory.” Cats 2019 features a brand new song by Taylor Swift, and was produced for approximately $100 million.
Cats doesn’t have a post-credits scene. After the climax featuring a group performance of "The Ad-Dressing of Cats,” the visuals dip to black as the credits hit. And while there’s nothing to wait around aside from the full credits (at least in terms of more character moments), there are a few things worth contemplating as the film concludes.
For one, there’s the official recording of “Beautiful Ghosts,” a new Cats song performed by Swift. In the movie, it’s performed by Hayward as Victoria reacts to her new friends, most notably the down-and-out Grizabella. “Beautiful Ghosts,” co-written by Swift and Webber, received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song.
As for Hayward, some Cats enthusiasts may be curious about where they know her from. The big screen adaptation features numerous familiar faces from pop culture, disguised under CGI rendered cat costumes, yet Hayward is known primarily for her stage accomplishments. In London, she works as a ballerina at The Royal Ballet, and has previously appeared in numerous famous stage productions such as The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty. While promoting Cats, Hayward revealed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that she took six months off from The Royal Ballet to shoot Hooper's film, but still needed to practice daily during production as just a two-day break would significantly alter her training routine.
So, Cats doesn’t have a post-credits scene, but there’s still plenty of detail to appreciate — even if the film itself may not go down as a 2019 classic. Beyond all the big names, plenty of people invested time in the stage design and choreography, not to mention all the little details that may go unnoticed during big character moments. After all, Cats is indeed a Golden Globe-nominated film, and will undoubtedly keep people talking throughout the year. It's just that weird.