The first day of San Diego Comic-Con was no disappointment. We got incredible news about Terminator: Dark Fate. We also got a new trailer for IT Chapter 2 and our first look at Jay and Silent Bob Reboot and Top Gun: Maverick. And then...there was Cats. We also got our first look at the trailer for the film adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical, and, to say the least, people have strong feelings about this one. Social media basically imploded.
As in the original stage musical, the roles are played by human actors who largely walk around on two legs, but are otherwise dressed as various varieties of domesticated feline. Whether you love Cats or love to hate on Cats, it's without question a weird sort of a thing, and Twitter basically went nuts.
We knew what we were getting with a movie based on Cats, but knowing it and actually seeing it are two different things. I'm not saying we can't all deal with it, but it's the sort of concept that takes some getting used to. They're cats, but they're also vaguely human. It's this sort of feline uncanny valley. As some have pointed out, it takes a very different path to the screen than say, another new movie that personifies cats in a major way.
Obviously, if you haven't actually seen the new Cats trailer, you have no idea what all these people are talking about, so you need to take a minute and find out. Check out the new trailer below. You will either thank me or hate me forever. Possibly both.
After viewing that, you likely have some very strange feelings. Luckily, there are people in the world like Anna Kendrick, who just go ahead and say out loud what the rest of us don't want to admit we were thinking.
More than a few people have remarked that the Cats trailer is probably a glimpse into a different fantasy world that many fans have wanted to see over the years. Turns out, maybe we don't need a live-action Thundercats movie after all?
Of course, while social media went nuts over the Cats trailer, it has to be said that not everybody was hating on it. A lot of the response on the CinemaBlend Facebook page was actually quite positive and they weren't the only ones looking forward to it. Yes, Cats looks like a fever dream, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. The stage musical has a lot of fans, many love Cats largely because it's bonkers and they're looking forward to the film adaptation for all of the same reasons.
At the end of the day, you have a movie musical with a cast that includes Taylor Swift, Jennifer Hudson, Judi Dench, Idris Elba and Sir Ian Mckellan. That cast right there would sell any other movie instantly and so sometimes you just have to embrace the insanity.
Cats hits theaters in December. Get ready.
