CATS Film Adaptation Thread- Page 2

[PatrickDC]

Posted: 7/20/18 at 6:35pm

Michael Gruber. Andy Jones. James Corden. 

Yeah, one of these things is not like the others. One of these things just doesn't belong...or however that old Sesame Street tune goes. 

 

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 7/20/18 at 7:29pm

Not for anything, but by this point isn't casting Jennifer Hudson to do the big number towards the end of the show just seeming like an obvious, lazy choice?

[robskynyc]

Posted: 7/20/18 at 7:37pm

I wonder why they didnt offer the Grizabella role to Nicole Scherzinger? she was amazing when i had the chance to see her!

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 7/20/18 at 7:56pm

everythingtaboo said: "Not for anything, but by this point isn't casting Jennifer Hudson to do the big number towards the end of the show just seeming like an obvious, lazychoice?"

What I'm tired of is relatively young actresses being cast in the role. The whole point of the character is that she's old and washed up, so why do these beautiful, below-forty bombshells keep being given the part?

[smallvillefan16]

Posted: 7/20/18 at 8:52pm

I think Jennifer Hudson is an amazing casting decision.  However, how is this film being done? I'm picturing CGI cats morphed with the faces of the actors.  Will it all be CGI cats or motion capture? It all is just so bizaare to me.  It seems impossible to get other Broadway shows to get film adaptions [Miss Saigion/Oliver/My Fair Lady] were all very close to being made, but never made it past development.  How in the heck does this?  I'm just beyond confused.  Where is the audience for this? Who is the audience for this?

[SomeOtherMe]

Posted: 7/20/18 at 9:09pm

Vocally speaking, I suppose I can imagine Taylor playing Rumpelteazer. Though she has some real impressive dancing in the show so they’d obviously have to modify that for her.

[chernjam]

Posted: 7/20/18 at 9:19pm

Kad said: "I suspect it'll be live-action with CGI cats aided by motion-capture? It'll look ghastly.

I wish the animated Spielberg adaptation had come to pass.

Stunning Concept Art For Spielberg's Animated Cats Movie That Never Was

"

Kad - thanks for sharing that - I've never seen these before - always wondered where these hidden gems on the internet are (the film script for this and Aspects of Love for example) - Cats has never been a favorite of mine.  I saw it once and disliked it.  Have the recordings as an ALW fan and have grown to enjoy the music... but I would definitely be there if this had come out.  Curious to see what Hooper will come up with 

 

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 7/21/18 at 1:58am

I heard McKellan is Old Deuteronomy rather than Gus. Odd.

[Scarlet Leigh]

Posted: 7/21/18 at 2:29am

The Distinctive Baritone said: "I heard McKellan is Old Deuteronomy rather than Gus. Odd."

Am I the only on that doesn't care WHICH of the two he is..... as long as Patrick Stewart plays the other?

[SomeOtherMe]

Posted: 7/21/18 at 4:56pm

What about Katharine McPhee as Victoria, the white cat?

[Outoftowner2]

Posted: 7/21/18 at 6:34pm

Maybe they could get Tom Holland involved.   His Billy Elliot skills were exceptional.   

Updated On: 7/21/18 at 06:34 PM

[PatrickDC]

Posted: 7/21/18 at 7:06pm

Outoftowner2 said: "Maybe they could get Tom Holland involved. His Billy Elliot skills were exceptional. "

And we know from Spider-Man he looks fantastic in tights. 

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/21/18 at 7:14pm

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[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/22/18 at 1:09am

I really think you'd need to go old-school animation to make this work. I just think a Pixar-style film will be laughable. The whole thing seems awful, so I'm VERY curious. 

[sueb1863]

Posted: 7/22/18 at 11:58am

I'm having a very hard time visualizing this. It's a dance musical with one very famous song and no real story. None of these actors are dancers so I'm guessing they're going to axe the dancing, and there's really nothing left except for "Memory" and a ton of songs ranging from cute to not-bad to mediocre.

What are they going to use for a plot? Is this going to resemble the musical at all or are they just going to keep the best songs and make up some brand new plot to hang them on?

And Tom Hooper...he's a good director but I disagreed with quite a bit of what he did with Les Miserables. Hopefully he'll stay away from the Dutch angles.

I'm guessing Swift will play Bombalurina. Ian McKellan will probably play Old Deutoronomy or maybe Gus the Theater Cat. James Corden will possibly play Bustopher Jones.

I have NO idea how they're going to handle what the cats will actually look like. Realistic cats would look silly trying to dance. Maybe a CGI mix of the Broadway costumes and cat features, but it'll be tricky to have it not look bizarre.

[Justin D]

Posted: 7/22/18 at 12:18pm

They should have just used the money to make a proper Phantom movie, lol

[Dave28282]

Posted: 7/22/18 at 12:18pm

I am really curious about how they are going to approach this. In the Beauty and the Beast movie, they had certain actors just doing the voices for CGI characters for the most part (Lumiere, Cogsworth, Wardrobe).

I think this artform on film only works if you stay away from the literal. For the voices that means to stay away from speaking in songs/constantly switching in 1 line. Because that would mean apologizing for the artform and chosen language, constantly separating the singing from the acting and switching in 1 line makes it cringeworthy. This is acting in spite of song, not acting through song. This artform is about sung thoughts, so we need to travel and soar with these thoughts. If you let the actors cry, speak or moan constantly it turns into a self-pitying literal mess. The essence of the artform lies in the opposite.

The setting and space should match this. It will not feel more raw or real for the audience if a pavement looks as realistic as possible. Play with cinematography, editing, lighting, create a dreamworld that is beyond real life. It is what in the character's mind that counts. Non-literal but respecting their sung thoughts. For example, if there would be a Miss Saigon movie, I like to see Last Night of the world as something better than life, not the cold concrete small empty room that was probably realistic, but in their minds it is sweltering, passionate and soaring. Show what's in their minds. Thuy's death does not have to be in an alley between a trash can and a clothes line either, because when she shoots him, it's the end of the world for her. So instead of some pedestrians singing the choir, why not take Kim to a big, black undefined space, holding Thuy while a creepy smoke surrounds her that turns into a choir of 1000 ghosts, like shades of guilt, singing (not necessericly mouthing the words, voice over will do), really turning it into a very haunting scene. Non-literal.

For Cats, I think they should not have people in costumes, pretending to be cats. The given is so fantasy like, that animation is the only way to go. Just like the new animated Lion King that's in the works now. The only problem is the dancing, the current movement in 3 animation still looks off and like moving dolls, it has not yet reacted the perfection of 2d animation, so I don't think they will animate the dancing, but maybe use real dancers and then animate over that including the faces/voices of the announced actors?

In musicalfilms the only scenes that seem to work is where they really embrace their thoughts, for example a Whole new world in Aladdin, an animated musical, it's almost like a videoclip, it's like a rollercoaster ride, with their voices as the wind in your hair. Same goes for "The lady's got potential" in Evita, that scene is a whole movie in itself, a masterpiece, and this movie really understood the given of sung thoughts in undefined spaces, for example the duet between Eva and Che in this undefined space, which is just wonderful. The "high flying adored" is sung in a way where none of the other guests hear them, it's their thoughts. With more natural singers this movie could have been great. The other thing that sometimes works is if the singing is supposed to be a performance, or has a purpose story wise, such as in certain scenes in the Sound of Music but that is not the case most of the time. 

A musicalfilm (any film) is a bunch of scenes, but especially in musicalfilms every scene and song should be almost like a videoclip. That does not necessarily mean fast editing, it can also be small, smooth and romantic, but that's the beauty of the possibilities of film. As long as it's not literal. I have always seen Cats as a bunch of little concerts/performances. A collection of beautiful scenes. Like Walt Disney's Fantasia or maybe as certain parts in Sleeping Beauty.

 

Updated On: 7/23/18 at 12:18 PM

[Justin D]

Posted: 7/22/18 at 9:42pm

But its a dance show, it is ok when an animated character dances for a bit, but to be constantly dancing....the point of people in a dance s how is to show skill and choreography, if it is all computer generated then where is the skill and amazement?

[Dave28282]

Posted: 7/23/18 at 5:14am

True, but I don't think Tom Hooper cares about skills at all. If he can make a sung-through musical movie without singing, he is also capable of making a dance movie without dance.

We should not forget that Tom Hooper has no idea about this language in storytelling. He thinks that turning things literal is the way to make it work. I think it's the opposite. 

[adamgreer]

Posted: 7/23/18 at 6:35am

The whole purpose of Cats is dancing. When you take that away, you’re left with no real plot and one good song.

If this is going to be CGI/ motion capture, no one is going to want to watch dancing CGI cats for two hours.

I just don’t see how this works without massive rewrites to give the show more dialogue and a cohesive story. I expect the film will bear nothing more than a passing resemblance to the stage show.

[Justin D]

Posted: 7/23/18 at 10:52am

adamgreer said: "I expect the film will bear nothing more than a passing resemblance to the stage show."

That's probably the only way they could make it work.

 

Posted: 7/23/18 at 3:18pm

wait, this isn't a colossal joke? worst idea in musical theater movie adaptations ever. 

Posted: 7/23/18 at 3:18pm

wait, this isn't a colossal joke? worst idea in musical theater movie adaptations ever. 

[chernjam]

Posted: 7/23/18 at 3:33pm

I'm curious because I remember reading the rumor that one film draft ended up on the internet (was it from Spielberg's time or some other adaptation) that people were pretty excited about.   I for one could never imagine this as a film since there's no story.  Unless they were going to flesh the whole who gets called to the Heavyside layer bit out a bit more and then each of the songs becomes  a type of an audition or something along those lines

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 7/23/18 at 7:18pm

There's no possible way,

 

that this won't look incredibly stupid.

CGI or Live Action.