Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift and James Corden are getting in touch with their feline sides. The three have been cast in an upcoming film adaptation of the classic Broadway musical Cats, Variety reports. Ian McKellen will also star, according to the outlet.
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Hudson will play Grizabella, the former “glamour cat” who sings about the hard times she’s fallen on in the iconic ballad “Memory.” Hudson previously won an Oscar in 2007 for her breakout role in Dreamgirls. It’s unclear which roles Swift, Corden and McKellen will play. Corden won a Tony Award in 2012 for “Best Actor in a Play” in One Man, Two Guvnors.
Aside from Grizabella, other characters include Old Deuteronomy, Macavity, Skimbleshanks and the Rum Tum Tugger.
One of the most successful musicals in history, Cats has employed long runs both in London’s West End and on Broadway.
Tom Hooper, who directed the Oscar-winning The King’s Speech, will direct Cats, which is set to begin shooting in Britain in November.
Variety reports that the screenplay was written by Lee Hall of Billy Elliot fame. Andrew Lloyd Webber composed the musical based off of T.S. Elliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. The musical premiered in 1981 and went on to win seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
The film adaptation will come from Working Title’s Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan, who brought another beloved stage musical, Les Miserables, to big screens in 2012. Les Miserables was nominated for best pictures at the Academy Awards and took home some hardware for Anne Hathaway as best supporting actress.
Swift and Corden have worked together in the past, during the iHeart Jingle Ball concert when Corden discovered one of Swift’s backup dancers was “down.”
“Hello. This is the general manager. What? Taylor Swift? One of the dancers is down? I can fix this,” Corden said after receiving an urgent call. “I will fix this right now. I’ll be right there!”
Running to the rescue, Corden crashed the singer’s backstage choreography rehearsal dressed in a fishnet shirt with a crop top sweatshirt over it. He nailed every move and even added in his own vocals to “Look What You Made Me Do.”
