Taylor Swift, Jennifer Hudson, James Corden and Ian McKellen are set to star in the big screen adaptation of Cats, to be directed by Tom Hooper and telling the story of a tribe of cats called the Jellicles and the night they 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.
The musical — which is the fourth-longest-running show in Broadway history, and was the longest running Broadway show in history from 1997 until 2006 — features some of the best known songs from the stage, including “Memory.”
Production on Cats is set to take place later this year in the U.K., with more cast due to be announced. Lee Hall (Billy Elliot) has adapted Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, which itself was based on the T.S. Eliot novel Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.
Hooper, who directed the Oscar-winning The King’s Speech, is also no stranger to musical adaptations, having previously teamed with Universal on 2012’s Oscar winning Les Miserables, which was a major box-office success.
Cats is slated for release Christmas 2019.
New Cats Film Lines Up A Star Studded Cast, Including Taylor Swift.
