It’s all over the news, Andrew Lloyd Webber criticising the movie version of his “Cats” musical which is one of the longest running theatre shows ever. It was highly successful as a theatre show and apparently a complete disaster as a film.
The director Tom Hooper has almost been vilified. There has been a degree of mockery about the failure of this film even before it was aired. The critics were out to get it and I’m not sure why. I don’t think that Andrew Lloyd Webber should now be criticising the film and calling it ridiculous. His use of the word “ridiculous” is a reference to the fact that Tom Hooper apparently didn’t want anybody involved in the making of the film who were involved in the theatre version. The press has used the word out of context implying that the entire film is ridiculous which is unethical and as far as I can tell not what Lloyd Webber said.
I suspect that Hooper wanted a complete break from the theatre version to inject a fresh look into the project. I can’t see anything wrong with that idea. What I don’t like about Andrew Lloyd Webber is that during the making of the film and at its premiere he was all smiles but when the film is a failure he wants to distance himself from it. I think that this is his purpose. He is doing his best to distance himself from the making of the film. He doesn’t want failure attached to him because most of his working career has been a great success.
However, as I recall, he was involved in the making of this film. He allowed, as did Tom Hooper, the introduction of a new song composed by Taylor Swift who starred in the film. It must have been approved by Andrew Lloyd Webber which supports the argument that he was involved. It doesn’t look that he now wants to be free of the connection.
I am told that Universal Pictures lost an estimated $113 million from this film. It should be noted that Tom Hooper successfully directed “Les Miserables” which was a great success. It was nominated for 12 Oscars, more than any other film that year (2012) and it won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Original Screenplay. Tom Hooper is a great director. Let’s not slag off the guy by implication or tarnish his name.
Note: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified.