Idris Elba to Star In 'Cats' Film Adaptation With Taylor Swift, James Corden and Jennifer Hudson
This cast is...interesting.
Idris Elba may have let some folks down when he announced that he would not become the next James Bond, but fans don't have to wait much longer to experience the actor on the big screen again—though it might not be in a role you might have expected.
Elba is in final negotiations to star in the film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's hit musical Cats alongside—what is shaping up to be—an eclectic, star-studded cast that includes James Corden, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen and none other than Taylor Swift reports Variety.
Cats, based on the T.S. Eliot novel Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, was one of the longest running musicals in the history of Broadway and London's West End following its premiere in 1981. It's about "a tribe of cats called the Jellicles must decide yearly which one will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new Jellicle life," according to its IMBd page.
Though it's not yet confirmed, it is believed that Elba will play Macavity the Mystery Cat, the musical's villan, as suggested in this report from Deadline. Surprisingly enough, this is not Elba's first time playing a villainous feline in a major motion picture. The actor also played Shere Khan in the 2016 live-action remake of Disney's The Jungle Book.
The film is set to begin shooting next month.
While we're not exactly sure what to expect from the film (casting news keeps getting weirder and weirder), we might be willing to give it a shot for Idris.
Not everyone is completely sold, though. Here are some very mixed reactions to the news form folks online:
