Cats Film Release Date Set

The release date for the upcoming film adaptation of Cats has been announced. According to Andrew Lloyd Webber on his website, the film will come out on Friday, December 20, 2019.

As previously announced, Tom Hooper (Les Misérables) will direct the film, which will include Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift, James Corden, and Ian McKellen. Hudson, who made her Broadway debut in the recent revival of The Color Purple, will take on the role of Grizabella, but the roles that Swift, Corden, and McKellen have been tapped for have not yet been announced. Billy Elliot book writer and lyricist Lee Hall is penning the screenplay.

Composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and based on T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, the original Broadway production of Cats opened in 1982 at the Winter Garden Theatre. The production ran for a record-breaking 18 years and 7,485 performances and earned six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book, and Best Original Score. The recent Broadway revival played at the Neil Simon Theatre from July 31, 2016, to December 30, 2017.