There's a New CATS Film in the Works, And You'll Never Guess Who's Choreographing

June 19, 2018

A Jellicle Ball is coming to the big screen, with the unlikeliest of dancemakers on tap to choreograph.

We’ll give you some hints: His choreography can aptly be described as “animalistic,” though Jellicle cats have never come to mind specifically when watching his hyper-physical work. He’s worked on movies before—even one about Beasts. And though contemporary ballet is his genre of choice, his choreography is certainly theatrical enough to lend itself to a musical.

That’s right, Royal Ballet resident choreographer Wayne McGregor is working on the new film version of CATS, the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical that you probably either obsessively love or deeply hate. (It’s a classic, guys. Don’t get me started.)

McGregor announced an audition call yesterday through this mysterious Instagram post:

Some of you are probably asking yourselves, “Do we really need another film version of CATS?” The answer is yes, yes we do. For starters, the 1998 film was a taping of the long-running West End production, so there are far more cinematic possibilities to explore in the Junk Yard. Plus, the recent Broadway revival choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler introduced a new generation to the magic of Rum Tum Tugger’s rotating hips and Mr. Mistoffelees’ never-ending turns, and showed that Gillian Lynne’s iconic choreography could be updated in inventive ways.

What will McGregor do with CATS‘ trippy plot and thrice-named characters? We have no clue, but we’re dying to find out.