Cats’ Headed for $100 Million Box Office Loss

[MessyTop 14,389]

https://variety.com/2019/film/box-office/cats-box-office-losses-flop-1203453171/

Cats’ Headed for $100 Million Box Office Loss

Rebecca Rubin

Universal’s “Cats” was in need of a holiday miracle. Instead, the filmmaking team behind the box office disaster got a lump of coal.

Tom Hooper’s big-screen adaptation has clawed its way to $38 million globally after two weeks in theaters, a dismal figure that could result in $100 million in theatrical losses, according to rival studio executives.

After its disappointing $6.5 million domestic debut ahead of Christmas, “Cats” failed to gain any traction during the busiest time of year for moviegoing. In its sophomore outing, the film was relegated to No. 9 on box office charts, scraping together $8.7 million over the five-day holiday frame. Audiences, dissuaded by brutal reviews, instead made the Jellicle choice to see Disney’s “Frozen 2,” “Spies in Disguise,” or essentially anything that didn’t involve Judi Dench, Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift and Idris Elba pretending to be felines.

“Cats” cost $100 million to produce and set Universal back an additional $95 million to $100 million for global marketing and distribution fees, according to studio insiders. Adding to damages, Universal issued new prints of the movie to exhibitors with improved visuals during opening weekend. The uncommon move came after Hooper’s mad dash to complete the film in time to keep its Dec. 20 release date left editing blunders like a human hand, complete with a wedding ring, on Dench’s Old Deuteronomy. Insiders at Universal said any tweaks were made digitally, keeping costs below six figures.

Universal had hoped that “Cats” would find an audience over the holidays, much like Fox fielded with its 2017 sleeper hit “The Greatest Showman.” But there’s little optimism that “Cats” will be able to hold screens in the new year, when potential ticket buyers return from vacation and get back into the swing of work and school. With competition from awards contenders and all-audience offerings, executives at rival studios expect “Cats” to top out below $30 million in the U.S. So far, it has earned $17.8 million in North America.

In hindsight, the demise of “Cats,” which is based on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical about a tribe of cats called Jellicles and their competition to determine who will receive a new life, could have been predicted after the horrified response from its first trailer. Universal didn’t screen the movie until days before it opened nationwide, in part because it wasn’t finished yet, but also in an attempt to control online chatter — efforts that were for naught. Negative reviews flooded the internet, skewering the musical in spectacular fashion and mining every feline pun imaginable in an attempt to put what they’d seen on screen into words. It wasn’t just critics, either. “Cats” was also besieged by audiences, who couldn’t fathom the uncanny valley of the visual effects, a spectacle dubbed “digital fur technology.”

Despite a rocky ending, Universal found success this year with franchises including “Fast & Furious” spinoff “Hobbs & Shaw,” “How to Train Your Dragon 3” and original fare like “Good Boys,” “Yesterday” and “Last Christmas.”

Another bright spot for the studio could be Sam Mendes’ acclaimed war drama “1917.” The WWI epic ignited in limited release with $1 million this weekend and is expected to be a commercial hit when it debuts nationwide on Jan. 10.

 

[FlopSlurper 34,336]

1 minute ago, GagainsiderNYC said:

“Last Christmas.”

This movie is amazing, I've watched it 3 times so far  Also everyone is being way over dramatic regarding cats, yeah the movie isn't amazing but I've watched plenty of worse movies getting praised.

[Bio 23,538]

And Swifties thought Taylor was getting an Oscar 

[Runway 27,876]

When OGH were perched to see this kind of news for ASIB

[MrDaniel 14,666]

4 minutes ago, Bio said:

And Swifties thought Taylor was getting an Oscar 

[gagaxsebert 5,804]

3 minutes ago, Bio said:

And Swifties thought Taylor was getting an Oscar 

I mean if there is a category for “Best Original Flop” then maybe 

[REALITY 77,025]

I mean, it always sucks for people involved when movies do poorly at the box office, but like, is it bad that I kind of love this....?

Since the first trailer, I've really disliked, downright, hated this movie. It's just a movie that no one asked for, and it's crazy that those at the top didn't think that this would end terribly. 

[LOVEDRUG 10,743]

17 minutes ago, Bio said:

And Swifties thought Taylor was getting an Oscar 

if ya'll don't think beautiful ghosts deserves an oscar then... you're beyond help

[S0436 10,215]

I wonder if they thought Taylor Swift would be enough to bring people in to watch it?  It’s going to be one of the biggest flops of all time.

[LaLuna 12,732]

I've said it in another thread and I'll say it again: this movie never should've been made 

Just goes to show that sometimes star power isn't enough 

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, M Monstre said:

I mean, it always sucks for people involved when movies do poorly at the box office, but like, is it bad that I kind of love this....?

Since the first trailer, I've really disliked, downright, hated this movie. It's just a movie that no one asked for, and it's crazy that those at the top didn't think that this would end terribly. 

If anything positive is to come out of all this mess is that maybe combined with all the critical bombs Disney put out lately, big movie studios are going to lose a bit of their dominance in the industry and less unnecessary live-action and/or poorly thought-out remakes are going to be made.

This is wishful thinking though, especially considering the amount of box office money Disney made despite their movies being so bad and at the end of the day money trumps acclaim in the business world but who knows. Monopolies like Disney and Universal need to lose their reign ASAP.

[LaLuna 12,732]

10 minutes ago, Autumn said:

if ya'll don't think beautiful ghosts deserves an oscar then... you're beyond help

Beautiful Ghosts wasn't shortlisted for Best Original Song so... guess the Academy is also beyond help 

[FlopSlurper 34,336]

45 minutes ago, Bio said:

And Swifties thought Taylor was getting an Oscar 

she has less camera time in the movie than ARTPOP era promo combined, but sure make this about taylor, the obsession as showing is per usual  and we thought she'd get one for Beautiful Ghosts, not for her acting because the song deserves it, but after watching the movie tay doesn't even sing it in the movie and the actress that sings it butchered it 

[ANTI WP 19,825]

"EVENT" tag 

rip swifities yall gonna get dragged 

[FlopSlurper 34,336]

2 minutes ago, LaLuna said:

Beautiful Ghosts wasn't shortlisted for Best Original Song so... guess the Academy is also beyond help 

Tay doesn't sing it in the movie and the actress that sings it ruined it, so I'm not surprised why it wasn't shortlisted