The Memory is Over as Universal Stops Campaigning for "Cats"

Scene from Cats (2019)

At this point, director Tom Hooper's Cats has been a universal meme of poor studio decisions and surrealistic nightmares involving Rebel Wilson's costume change. There are those who are going for a good time, while others have outright called it the worst movie of 2019. For a film that was once primed to get some Oscar traction, this has been a rough two weeks. Now, with only a single full week of release behind them, the worst news of all has come: Cats is bowing out of the awards race. Many saw it coming, but it wasn't until recently that Universal Studios removed Cats from its For Your Consideration page, and thus bids the end for the film. The good times have come to an end for Cats, and with that its status as one of the oddest Christmas releases of the decade (possibly ever) will forge ahead of its own legacy, whatever that may be. 

An entire book could've been written about the type of December that Cats has had. It started the year unable to make screening for voting bodies, likely leading to its absence of Golden Globe nominations. It didn't get much better as visual effects were incomplete by its release day and this past week has found "improved" visuals replacing it (the good news is that it's still eligible in this field). However, the bigger news coming out of Cats screenings is a mix of theater kids and bad taste enthusiasts coming together to boo and dance to the film's weird choices.  It wasn't enough, as the film currently has a box office intake of $16 million on a $100 million budget. There's still a chance that it follows in The Greatest Showman's path and is a slow-burning success, but that film at least had more positive forms of enthusiasm. As it stands, Cats sits at an abysmal 2.6 (out of 10) rating on IMDb. 

That alone would sink a film of any caliber, but let's consider Universal Studios' place in all of this. They're the studio currently running For Your Consideration events for their films, hoping to make any dent at the ceremony. It's an honored past time that shows what a studio believes in. So, does Universal believe in Cats now that it's been publicly neutered and its one clear shot at Oscar glory ("Beautiful Ghosts" in Best Original Song)? Well, take a look at their home page:

They clearly have more faith in Abominable and The Secret Life of Pets 2 making it to Oscar night than they do Cats. There's no sign of the film even existing in the campaign despite opening in the prime spot for a campaign like this. Even Us, which opened much earlier in the year than the other five films listed, has had an incredibly noticeable campaign. I have personally seen bus and bench ads for the film, and I don't live in Los Angeles or any major market where that's common. There's clearly a desire for Us to be nominated, even 1917 looks to be off to a strong start. But Cats? After the week it's had, does anyone believe that continuing to support it will make a difference? Not likely.

It always seemed like a gamble that Cats would come out and be publicly accepted. Despite its success on Broadway, it remains a show that's ideal in that form. There is a need to have the suspension of disbelief to buy the idea of cats dancing these elaborate styles that are dazzling, so long as you believe that a human can be a cat. In the film, the need for hyper-realism hurts the idea of a human dancing like a cat, and that's what audiences are resenting. I personally found it enjoyable, but that's if you meet the film's high-energy can-do attitude at its level. You have to believe that a human can be a cat, and that's a big leap for most, especially a major studio release.

Oh well. If there was ever to be a Christmas miracle, it didn't show up. If anything, Cats was unceremoniously dumped in an alley to revel with all of the other misfits. Even if one can make a strong argument that anything else was more maligned, there's still nothing that came and went with such catastrophic results as Cats did - and in only 10 days. Things are over for Hooper's latest musical, proving that he couldn't strike twice after making the hit Les Miserables. Odds are that he's going to be stuck in movie jail for awhile. That is unless the slow-burner moniker fits the film and January will be the months that everyone takes to the street to sing about Jellicle cats. That would be exciting, but not likely. Anyways, it's been nice knowing you Cats. You were too weird for this world.