Andrew Lloyd Webber feels the big screen adaptation of his musical Cats was far from purr-fect.
In a new interview with the U.K.’s Sunday Times, the prolific musical theater composer, 72, slammed the movie, which hit theaters in December, as “ridiculous.” Cats — which starred Idris Elba, Judi Dench, Taylor Swift, Rebel Wilson, Jennifer Hudson and James Corden — was directed by Oscar winner Tom Hooper, who co-wrote the screenplay with Lee Hall.
“The problem with the film,” said Webber, “was that Tom Hooper decided that he didn’t want anybody involved in it who was involved in the original show. The whole thing was ridiculous.”
Webber is listed as an executive producer on the film, and the Tony winner teamed up with Swift, 30, to pen a brand-new new song for the movie, titled “Beautiful Ghost.” The emotional tune was performed by Francesca Hayward’s character Victoria.
Webber explained in a behind-the-scenes featurette that he felt the original song needed to be included in the remake after his first read-through of the script.
“When I first read the screenplay — and the film is seen through Victoria’s eyes — the first thing I said was: ‘We have to have a song for Victoria. It’s an incredibly important central part of the whole film,’” he said.
Hooper, 47, won an Academy Award in 2010 for directing The King’s Speech, which also won Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor. In November, ahead of Cats’ debut, the filmmaker told Empire magazine that the online criticism of the movie’s initial trailer and its visual effects was “entertaining.”
“I was just so fascinated because I didn’t think it was controversial at all,” said Hooper at the time. “So it was quite entertaining. Cats was apparently the number-one trending topic in the world, for a good few hours at least.”
