Andrew Lloyd Webber says the film version of his musical Cats is ‘ridiculous’ 

Andrew Lloyd Webber says the film version of his musical Cats is ‘ridiculous’

  • Andrew Lloyd Webber described the movie version of his musical as ‘ridiculous’  
  • He pinned failure on lack of involvement from those behind the original show
  • Lord Lloyd-Webber also discussed the impact of the pandemic on his business 

Andrew Lloyd Webber has described the movie version of his musical Cats as ‘ridiculous’.

He blamed its failure on the director not wanting any involvement from those behind the original show.

Despite its huge budget and A-list cast – including Taylor Swift and Dame Judi Dench – critics panned the movie and it was a box-office flop.

Andrew Lloyd Webber (pictured) has described the movie version of his musical Cats as ‘ridiculous’

Despite its huge budget and A-list cast – including Taylor Swift and Dame Judi Dench – critics panned the movie and it was a box-office flop

Despite its huge budget and A-list cast – including Taylor Swift and Dame Judi Dench – critics panned the movie and it was a box-office flop 

In an interview with the Sunday Times, Lord Lloyd-Webber said: ‘The problem with the film was that Tom Hooper decided that he didn’t want anybody involved in it who was involved in the original show. The whole thing was ridiculous.’

Lord Lloyd-Webber also discussed the impact of the pandemic on his business. He said: ‘We have to batten down the hatches and keep going for as long as possible.’ 

Last month, he said the seven West End theatres he owns were costing him £1million a month to keep going.

Lord Lloyd-Webber blamed its failure on the director not wanting any involvement from those behind the original show

Lord Lloyd-Webber blamed its failure on the director not wanting any involvement from those behind the original show

The movie adaptation of popular stage musical Cats was universally savaged by critics, even receiving one reviewer’s first ever zero-rating.

Director Tom Hooper’s extravagant rendering – with an A-list ensemble cast featuring the talents of Taylor Swift, Dame Judi Dench, Idris Elba and Sir Ian McKellen – received largely negative comments in early reviews in December last year.

Branded an ‘all-time disaster’ by one critic, the film was slammed as ‘jarring’, ‘a huge failure’, ‘soulless’ and just plain ‘wrong’ by movie buffs on both sides of the Atlantic.

With an estimated $95 million budget it’s a worrying portent for a film so long in the making, but the warning signs were already in evidence when fans lambasted its first theatrical trailer, with poor animation cited as its number one flaw.

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