It’s fair to say that Cats has been having a bit of a rough time with critics and moviegoers, both being less than complimentary about Tom Hooper’s musical. Critics have given appalling scores while it also currently sits at a 2.7/10 rating over at IMDB.com.
First, there was the laughable trailer in July, which we called nightmare fuel, then there was the news that a patch had been applied to fix the movie’s effects. It wasn’t a good start for Cats despite being based on a well-loved Broadway musical and boasting an all-star cast that includes Idris Elba, Taylor Swift, Dame Judi Dench, and Ian McKellen.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Cats looks set to hit Universal pictures where it hurts most, their wallet.
After an opening weekend that made just $6.5 million, Cats is now slated to make a loss of $71 million at the box office — $ 71 million. Considering the estimated budget was between $80-100 million before the staggering cost of marketing has even been added on, that’s one heck of a loss.
According to Deadline, this loss is all based on the movie bringing in $100 million at the global box office, and that could be a big if.
It hasn’t helped, of course, that Cats has had to go up against Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, a film that in itself has divided a lot of opinions, however, unlike Cats has actually made some money. Maybe rushing the release and releasing a patch to fix things wasn’t such a good idea after all.
I’ll be honest and admit that I’ve yet to see the film, after everything I’ve heard about it. I’m not about to go and throw my hard-earned money at it. I will give it a watch when it ends up on TV as to me it sounds so bad it could be enjoyable.
