It’s shaping up to be a bad weekend for felines all around the country. The reviews for Tom Hooper’s live-action adaptation of Cats started arriving online on Wednesday night and the film was almost universally panned. People have been billing Cats as a complete disaster and one of the worst movies of the year, which has been expected since the first trailer debuted earlier this year. Those rough reviews are looking to impact the box office performance of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical in a big way.
Between the critical lashing of Cats, and the bright idea to open up against Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the film is in store for a terrible weekend at the box office. Initial projections suggested that Cats would earn between $15 million and $17 million in North America over the course of its first three days. Hooper’s latest adaptation likely won’t even hit that mark, as Universal is preparing for an even bigger failure than expected.
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Variety reports that Cats is now on pace to make just $8.5 million dollars in its opening weekend. This might be a good haul for a smaller indie film, but Cats has a reported budget of over $100 million. There’s a chance that more people could head to theaters to see Cats over the course of the holidays, but it’s not looking likely.
If Cats wants to try and make back any of its massive budget, the money will probably need to come from various markets overseas. An $8.5 million opening in North America doesn’t bode well for its future performance. Right now, it’s looking like a monumental loss for Universal.
Cats stars James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Francesca Hayward, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, and Rebel Wilson.
Have you seen Cats yet? Do you think it will be able to break even with its global box office haul? Let us know in the comments!
