CATS Film Adaptation Thread- Page 14

[Theatre Fan3]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 8:54am

Many thought the stage production was "weird" and made no sense yet it seemed to survive just fine!! I predict the same will be true for the film.

[raddersons]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 8:55am

Justin D said: "But its alot of bits of dialogue so far, I wonder how much songs/music will get chopped."

And like, if you're gonna cut some numbers, why are you keeping Bustopher Jones? I'd very easily put it in a lower tier than many of the other songs.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 10:59am

https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2019/11/19/dont-judge-cats-film-by-its-trailer-says-canadian-music-producer-greg-wells.html

[devonian.t]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 11:52am

I just keep thinking of Six Degrees of Separation.

"They're making a movie of Cats?"

[Miserent]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 12:03pm

It looks like they filmed all the singing live, just like they did for Les Mis...I honestly cannot help but be so curious about how this movie will turn out. It is highly anticipated for all the wrong reasons.

[evic]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 5:37pm

It looks ugly.  And they all look freakish. Big BOMB. 

[evic]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 5:37pm

It looks ugly.  And they all look freakish. Big BOMB. 

[evic]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 5:37pm

It looks ugly.  And they all look freakish. Big BOMB. 

[Theatre Fan3]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 7:28pm

Posting your comment 3 times doesn't give it more credibility.

[raddersons]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 10:10pm

Love it or hate it, you will see it. And so will America.

[raddersons]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 10:10pm

Double post.

Updated On: 11/21/19 at 10:10 PM

[ggersten]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 10:41pm

Roy Cohen in Angels in America:  "Cats. Cats! It's about …. cats."

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 12/1/19 at 3:56pm

Any word on when the soundtrack will be released? Searched and couldn't find a date. 

[Dave28282]

Posted: 12/1/19 at 4:06pm

Tom Hooper is completely clueless about this artform.

The essence of this artform is to stay away from realistic norms, as the language is per definition a triumph of the fantasy.

In Les Mis the biggest pitfall was to choose a too literal approach. Because this artform per definition is not. He fell into it.
Result: 2,5 hours of cringe worthy bleating in eachother's face in a literal world.

In Cats the biggest pitfall was to make the characters look too much like humans in a suit. Because there are only 2 routes here that could work, either realistic looking cats, or embracing the fantasy and create more cartoon-esque cats. He fell into it. They look like humans in a suit.

He does not seem to grasp what actually takes audiences on a sincere journey in this artform. I think he might even be convinced that both films work, because he has a different view of what is "real" in this artform than most audience members?

In Les Mis he's apologizing for the singing and the fantasy, in Cats he's apologizing for the cats.
Embracing it is the only option in my opinion. Raw and real, a sincere journey lies in different things from what he thinks.

 

Updated On: 12/1/19 at 04:06 PM

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 12/1/19 at 4:36pm

Saw somewhere that the soundtrack will be released on Friday, December 20 (same day as the film) and supposedly here is the tracklisting:


The Overture
Prologue: Jellicle Songs For Jellicle Cats
The Naming of Cats
Invitation To The Jellicle Ball
The Old Gumbie Cat - Rebel Wilson (Ft. Daniela Norman, Freya Rowley, Robbie Fairchild & Taylor Swift) 
The Rum Tum Tugger - Jason Derulo (Ft. Laurie Davidson & Taylor Swift)
Grizabella: The Glamour Cat - Jennifer Hudson (Ft. Daniela Norman)
Bustopher Jones: The Cat About Town
Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer
Old Deuteronomy
The Jellicle Ball
Grizabella, The Glamour Cat
Memory (Prelude)
The Moments Of Happiness
Gus The Theater Cat
Growltiger’s Last Stand / The Ballad Of Billy McCaw (which surprises me if this is true...)
Skimbleshanks The Railway Cat
Macavity: The Mystery Cat
Mr. Mistoffelees
Memory - Jennifer Hudson
Beautiful Ghosts - Francesca Hayward
The Journey To The Heaviside Layer
The Ad-Dressing Of Cats
Beautiful Ghosts - Taylor Swift 
Beautiful Ghosts (Reprise) - Judi Dench

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 12/1/19 at 5:49pm

I’ve also seen running time is somewhere between 1:41 to 1:50.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 12/1/19 at 9:01pm

jacobsnchz14 said: "I’ve also seen running time is somewhere between 1:41 to 1:50. "

The Cats video was truncated by Reno Hong the dance breaks,  so I assume that's happening here ar well.  If they are including Growltiger, then i expect that will be heavily edited as well. 

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 12/1/19 at 9:47pm

>>Growltiger’s Last Stand / The Ballad Of Billy McCaw (which surprises me if this is true...)

It is. Ray Winstone is playing him

[A Director]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 12:10am

Dave28282 said: "Tom Hooper is completely clueless about this artform.

The essence of this artform is to stay away from realistic norms, as the language is per definition a triumph of the fantasy.

In Les Mis the biggest pitfall was to choose a too literal approach. Because this artform per definition is not. He fell into it.
Result: 2,5 hours of cringe worthy bleating in eachother's face in a literal world.

In Cats the biggest pitfall was to make the characters look too much like humans in a suit. Because there are only 2 routes here that could work, either realistic looking cats, or embracing the fantasy and create more cartoon-esque cats. He fell into it. They look like humans in a suit.

He does not seem to grasp what actually takes audiences on a sincere journey in this artform. I think he might even be convinced that both films work, because he has a different view of what is "real" in this artform than most audience members?

In Les Mis he's apologizing for the singing and the fantasy, in Cats he's apologizing for the cats.
Embracing it is the only option in my opinion. Raw and real, a sincere journey lies in different things from what he thinks.

Dave, Musicals and Film are two DIFFERENT art forms each with its own norms.  If you are going to adapt a stage musical into a film, it is important to give this in mind.  This is true when adapting a novel for the stage or a novel for the movies!

 

 

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 9:39pm

A Director said: "Dave28282 said: "Tom Hooper is completely clueless about this artform.

The essence of this artform is to stay away from realistic norms, as the language is per definition a triumph of the fantasy.

In Les Mis the biggest pitfall was to choose a too literal approach. Because this artform per definition is not. He fell into it.
Result: 2,5 hours of cringe worthy bleating in eachother's face in a literal world.

In Cats the biggest pitfall was to make the characters look too much like humans in a suit. Because there are only 2 routes here that could work, either realistic looking cats, or embracing the fantasy and create more cartoon-esque cats. He fell into it. They look like humans in a suit.

He does not seem to grasp what actually takes audiences on a sincere journey in this artform. I think he might even be convinced that both films work, because he has a different view of what is "real" in this artform than most audience members?

In Les Mis he's apologizing for the singing and the fantasy, in Cats he's apologizing for the cats.
Embracing it is the only option in my opinion. Raw and real, a sincere journey lies in different things from what he thinks.

Dave, Musicals and Film are two DIFFERENT art forms each with its own norms. If you are going to adapt a stage musical into a film, it is important to give this in mind. This is true when adapting a novel for the stage or a novel for the movies!



He won't keep this in mind. Dave wants to see filmed stage shows, not film adaptations of musicals. He has an unrealistic understanding of modern film and the movie business. I do not fault him for this as much as I used to. He is a fan of how old Hollywood did things, but I don't think audiences care for the old ways anymore. The industry has changed, as have the attitudes of audiences. The recent movie musicals that have managed to become successes seem to give credence to that point.

Because he didn't care for choices made in Les Miserables, he often touts it as a failure, and to him it was. Never mind the fact that Hooper delivered a film that was huge financial suceess that was enjoyed by hundreds of thousands, and was nominated for tons of awards that award season. Dave may not care for the movie, but it was a resounding success (even if he measures success differently than most).

That said, the visuals in this film version of Cats are definitely being lambasted for being creepy and unappealing. Because of the response thus far, an argument can definitely be made about the approach taken to bring this to the screen. Even if it truly is terrible, we (and Dave) will still have the 1998 filmed version of the stage show... which, to me, was also baffling, but the stage version was also a monster hit; so clearly, I am the one missing something there.

[chernjam]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 10:30pm

Read elsewhere rumors of delays, whether it's with the editing or music end depends on where you read it - and one site was saying they should just delay the release date.  

Kind of surprised by the lack of news, updates, interviews... I mean if its actually opening Dec 20th, the amount of marketing has been really minimal... Not even to be able to find official news on the soundtrack release - is pretty amazing 

[morosco]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 10:44pm

I wonder if they have made any CGI alterations to the physical appearance of the cats after hearing the public's response when the trailer came out months ago? CGI is expensive though isn't it? So maybe not. Maybe the producers are just accepting the fact that audiences will be underwhelmed and it'll quickly go to streaming channels.

[Theatre Fan3]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 11:26pm

One thing that concerns me is the trailers so far have not shown us any sample of the singing other than a brief glimpse of Jennifer Hudson singing Memory ... normally one would think they would release the soundtrack, or at least a couple of the songs, several weeks before the films release to generate a little buzz and excitement for the film ... or are they worried that it might have the opposite effect?

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 11:26pm

morosco said: "Maybe the producers are just accepting the fact that audiences will be underwhelmed and it'll quickly go to streaming channels."

Maybe we’ll get lucky and the film will be shelved permanently.

[ggersten]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 11:30pm

Hooper said they did make alterations to the CGI after the July trailer release. He claims that trailer was using early footage and not the final CGI.  

As for trailers not showing singing - hello Sweeney Todd marketing. Surprise! It's a musical motion picture.