The first trailer for Tom Hooper’s lavish adaptation of Cats certainly got tails wagging when it debuted online back in the summer, thanks to its, erm, interesting-looking ensemble of feline-human hybrids. Now, we’ve got a second look at this Christmas’ weirdest big-screen contender and, well, it’s still kinda weird.
Based on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s record-breaking stage musical, Cats sees Hooper (the Oscar-winning director of The King’s Speech and Les Miserables) giving a huge cast of big names a furry, pointy-eared CG-makeover, including (takes deep breath) James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift and Rebel Wilson.
The all-singing, all-dancing extravaganza hews close to the original show and focuses on a tribe of moggies called the ‘Jellicles’, who, according to the synopsis, make what is known as “the Jellicle choice” and decide which cat will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life. Whatever that means.
You can watch the new trailer below…
If you were perplexed by the first trailer, this follow-up probably isn’t going to make things any clearer, other than giving us a closer look at Idris Elba’s villain – the master criminal known as Macavity. The bit where James Corden’s Bustopher Jones hisses and ‘cleans’ himself, meanwhile, is either likely to make you chuckle or give you nightmares, depending on how scarred you were by George Galloway’s infamous stint on Celebrity Big Brother.
Elsewhere, Royal Ballet principal dancer Francesca Hayward is making her film debut among all the A-listers. Her role as the white cat Victoria is a traditionally non-solo singing part, although that looks set to change in the film version – Lloyd Webber has teamed up with Swift to pen a new song, ‘Beautiful Ghosts’, for Hayward’s character to warble.
Cats will be competing with Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker at the festive box office. It’s still likely to be a huge hit, though – the stage musical is one of the longest-running shows in West End and Broadway history, and it’ll probably attract a huge crowd eager to see it out of curiosity if nothing else. We’ll find out for sure when the film is released in cinemas on 20 December.