Andy Blankenbuehler to Choreograph Big-Screen Cats

Three-time Tony Award winner Andy Blankenbuehler has signed on as choreographer for Universal Pictures and Working Title's upcoming big-screen adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats. Blankenbuehler returns to the material having choreographed the musical's 2016 Broadway revival. The film is directed by Tom Hooper and is set for a December 20, 2019, theatrical release.

As previously announced, the star-studded cast of Cats will feature Jason Derulo (Rum Tum Tugger), Rebel Wilson (Jennyanydots), Jennifer Hudson (Grizabella), Taylor Swift, James Corden, Ian McKellen (Gus the Theatre Cat), Judi Dench (Old Deuteronomy), Idris Elba (Macavity), Steven McRae (Skimbleshanks), Mette Towley (Jemima), and Francesca Hayward (Victoria).

Blankenbuehler earned his first Tony Award in 2008 for choreographing Lin-Manuel Miranda's debut musical In the Heights and worked with Miranda on his following two musicals, Bring It On and Hamilton, the latter earning him is second Tony win. He also choreographed the 2012 Broadway revival of Annie and the original musical Bandstand, which earned him his third Tony in 2017.

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.