#Andrew Lloyd Webber slams ‘Cats’ movie: ‘The whole thing was ridiculous’

By Dino-Ray Ramos, Deadline

The movie version of “Cats” may have been released last year, but it is still very much present in our lives. In a recent interview with Andrew Lloyd Webber, the composer of the original musical, he shared the same sentiment of critics when it came to the big-screen adaptation. In other words, he thought the movie had some problems — to say the least.

“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,” Webber told The Sunday Times in a recent interview. “The whole thing was ridiculous.”

The film, which was released last December, immediately started to garner criticism and was subject to many-a-jokes once its first trailer of bizarro photorealistic cat-human hybrids was released. Despite its all-star cast of Taylor Swift, Judi Dench, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, James Corden, Rebel Wilson and others, it was critically panned and a box office bust as Universal lost an estimated $113 million. Corden also said in an interview that he hadn’t watched the movie but heard it was terrible.

The movie adaptation hit many speed bumps with its release including a change in special effects. A different version of the movie was released after its initial debut. Shortly after it opened, Universal Pictures sent out a memo to theaters saying that they will be sending out a new version that included “improved visual effects”.

“Cats” also swept the Razzies, winning Worst Picture, Worst Supporting Actor and Actress (James Corden and Rebel Wilson, respectively), Worst On Screen Combo, Worst Screenplay and Worst Director.