Purrpawsterous!
“Cats” is a flop — not just among critics, but also at the box office, internal sources have confirmed.
Deadline reports that, according to those familiar with the finances of the star-studded film, Universal Pictures is on track to lose, at a minimum, $71 million from the feline-infused flick. And that’s cutting “Cats” some slack and assuming it will make at least $100 million — $40 million in the United States and $60 million overseas. Otherwise, the loss may be even higher.
These numbers take into account the movie musical’s $90 million net production cost and an estimated $115 million marketing budget.
A cast including Judi Dench, Taylor Swift, Jason Derulo and other big names couldn’t draw audiences over the holidays, and the blockbuster, released Dec. 20, has so far made just $38.3 million globally, the Los Angeles Times reports.
In contrast, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1981 stage musical, of which the holiday film is an adaption, grossed near $4 billion.
Even an 11th-hour edit by Oscar-winning Tom Hooper couldn’t save the strangely CGI-enhanced picture and its uncomfortably frisky cat-humanoid celebrities.
While “Cats” has received perhaps record-levels of disgusted, if amused, reviews on social media, it will not go down in history as one of the biggest studio failures. Those numbers begin in the $200 million-plus league of losses.
Even “Westworld” star Evan Rachel Wood trashed the musical adaption, which got a 20 percent “fresh” rating on RottenTomatoes.com.
Andrew Lloyd Webber, perhaps alone, is actually a fan.
