If you're following the film industry right now then you know two things. First, we're still fighting over Star Wars, and second, Cats is a nightmare inducing eldritch horror that can't be explained, it can only be experienced. Not that I'd recommend doing that of course. The movie has been getting trashed in reviews and skewered on social media. It's so bad, that apparently James Corden, who is in the movie, has yet to actually see it.
Actor and late night host James Corden, who plays the role of Bustopher Jones in Cats admitted in the Zoe Ball Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2 (via the Independent) that, following the movie's terrible reviews, he hasn't actually seen the movie.
While the context of Corden's comments imply that the word of mouth is what's keeping him away from seeing the movie, it's always possible that's not entirely the case. It could be that Corden is just one of those actors that hate to watch themselves, and thus he doesn't see anything he's in.
But it certainly does sound like James Corden is simply in no hurry to check out his latest work following the response. And it's difficult to blame him. The movie bombed pretty hard during its opening weekend, coming in fourth place at the domestic box office, and those that did see it have mostly come out talking about how utterly bizarre a production the whole thing is.
James Corden's character, Bustopher Jones,, which is somehow not the most ridiculous character name in the movie, gets an early song in the film, where he sings about his love of food, and spends most of the number diving into trash cans.
Cats has always been something of a bizarre show, even when it was on Broadway. The film has only the barest structure of a plot that exists to tie the musical performances together. Having said that, Cats is one of the biggest hits Broadway has ever seen, making the transition to film seemingly inevitable. While it took decades, it finally did happen, but that level of success will not be repeated.
James Corden himself compared the filming of Cats to being high, due to the insanity of some absolutely top notch talent all pretending to be cats together. And he could not have known how the movie would actually look when it was all said and done.
Of course, how the movie looks is one of the big issues. The CGI that turned the human actors into cat-people has been one of the areas where the movie has been criticized, and considering that said CGI was literally not finished before the movie was released, that's more than understandable.
Maybe James Corden can get access to an awards screener of Cats, if nothing else the movie is going to be competing with the one original song that was added to the film adaptation, and that way he can see it, but quietly and in a safe space.
