Laurie Davidson to Join Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift, and More in Cats Film

According to published reports, Laurie Davidson will join the cast of the upcoming film adaptation of Cats.

Davidson most recently played William Shakespeare on TNT's Will. He joins previously announced cast members Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift, James Corden, and Ian McKellen. Hudson will play Grizabella; the roles played by Davidson, Swift, Corden, and McKellen have yet to be announced.

The film will be produced by Working Title. Tom Hooper, who directed the film version of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg's Les Misérables, is slated to direct. Billy Elliot book writer and lyricist Lee Hall is penning the screenplay. As previously announced, the film will be released on Friday, December 20, 2019.

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.