Judi Dench criticizes Cats film in new memoir

In her memoir, ‘Is It Too Late to Make a Run For It?’, actress Judi Dench reflects on her involvement in the 2019 film Cats, describing it as one of the worst projects of the 21st century. Dench characterized the production as ‘a waste of all that goodwill and talent,’ though she noted that ‘there were no villains in the making of Cats,’ suggesting the failure was due to execution rather than malice.

Directed by Tom Hooper and based on the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, the film was a significant critical and commercial failure. It received poor reviews, including a 19% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and earned six Razzie Awards. Despite a high-profile cast including Taylor Swift and Idris Elba, the film grossed approximately 78.3 million dollars against a 95 million dollar budget.