Evan Rachel Wood is no stranger to musicals, having belted out songs in “Across the Universe” and “Frozen II,” but not even she could find something nice to say about Tom Hooper’s “Cats.” The maligned adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical of the same name has become one of the year’s biggest critical and commercial flops. Wood eviscerated the CGI-driven musical on social media, reacting to the film with countless f-bombs and a ton of questions.
“‘Cats’ is actually worse than I thought it would be, and I already thought it would be horrible,” Wood wrote in a since-deleted tweet (via Variety). “But I am actually speechless. Why would you change the choreography? I…am SPEECHLESS.”
Wood then took her reaction to Instagram, where she posted a video of herself reviewing “Cats.” The actress said: “I have to have an actual live reaction of this. What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck? What? What? What the fuck? What the fuck? Oh my god!”
“They changed all the iconic choreography,” Wood said. “Took out 70% of the main characters. Changed the plot. I grew up in theatre. I was married to a dancer. I have massive respect for what they do, which is why this was such a letdown and missed opportunity for that community.”
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“Cats” cost approximately $100 million to produce, mainly because of the extensive VFX needed to add “digital fur” to the human actors so they appear more like felines. Unfortunately, the movie has yet to even crack the $15 million mark at the domestic box office through Christmas. “Cats’” worldwide gross is not even above $20 million yet.
Wood’s critical thoughts align with the majority of film critics who panned the movie and dubbed it one of the worst movies of the year. Several publications noted this week that Universal Pictures had removed “Cats” from its official For Your Consideration page, more or less meaning the studio is not campaigning for the film in the awards race. Sources told Variety that “Cats” is also not being featured on the Academy’s online streaming platform. The film is still playing in theaters nationwide.
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