Cat Person Movie, Based on Viral Short Story, Releases First Trailer

One of the biggest short stories of the past decade is finally headed to the big screen. On Thursday, Rialto Pictures released the first trailer for Cat Person, the new live-action film based on Kristen Roupenian's story of the same name, which was originally published by The New Yorker in 2017. The Cat Person film features an ensemble cast including CODA's Emilia Jones, Succession's Nicholas Braun, and Miracle Workers' Geraldine Viswanathan. The film, which is directed by Booksmart co-writer Susanna Fogel, also stars Hope Davis, Fred Melamed and Isabella Rossellini.

In Cat Person, 20-year-old sophomore college student Margot (Jones) has a brief relationship with Robert (Braun), an older man who frequently visits the movie theater where she works. As the Cat Person teaser illustrates, the film will take a bit more of an outlandish and horror-tinged perspective than its source material previously did.

What Is Cat Person About?

Roupenian's short story recounted the relationship between Margot and Robert, and her suspicions that he had lied about or fabricated elements of his life. After breaking up with Robert and subsequently ignoring his text messages, Margot later receives retaliation from him.

Cat Person captured the Internet's attention at the time of its release, becoming one of the most-read stories of 2017, and the most-downloaded piece of the year from The New Yorker. It was praised by many for accurately capturing the dynamics of modern-day dating. The story was subsequently reprinted in Roupenian's first book, a 2019 anthology titled You Know You Want This: "Cat Person" and Other Stories. Roupenian reportedly received an advance of $1.2 million for writing the book.

Is Cat Person Based on a True Story?

The story of Cat Person got further complicated a few years later, with the 2021 publication of Slate essay titled "Cat Person and Me." In it, a woman named Alexis Nowicki alleged that Cat Person borrows details from her relationship with her ex-boyfriend, who is referred to by a pseudonym of "Charles", and who had recently passed away. Roupenian later confirmed via an email to Nowicki that she had interacted with Charles years prior, discovered Nowicki through social media, and information about both ultimately inspired Cat Person.

"What's difficult about having your relationship rewritten and memorialized in the most viral short story of all time is the sensation that millions of people now know that relationship as described by a stranger," Nowicki's essay reads in part. "Meanwhile, I'm alone with my memories of what really happened—just like any death leaves you burdened with the responsibility of holding onto the parts of a person that only you knew."

What do you think of the first trailer for Cat Person? Will you be checking out the upcoming film adaptation? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Cat Person is set to be released in theaters beginning on October 6th.