‘Cats’ allowed to submit new and improved version for Oscar race despite bad run at the box office
It has surely been a bad week for ‘Cats’. And it has been obvious. The much-anticipated movie of the year fell flat at the box-office as soon as it released. From receiving heavy flak from critics to the cold response from the audience, ‘Cats’ has not been managing well across the theaters. But since every cloud has a silver lining, ‘Cats' also saw one. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has allowed ‘Cats’ to enter the Oscar run, provided the production company improves the current version that is running in the theaters. The incomplete visual effects were fixed using new VFX after the movie opened last Friday (December 20).
The Academy has a certain rule for allowing a movie to enter the Oscar run, which requires a certain piece of work to be exactly the same one used in the qualifying run in Los Angeles. The production team cannot make any changes in the initial version before submitting it for the awards. To detail it out further, here’s what “Rule Two: Eligibility”, “Part 7” of the award criteria states- "The alteration of an achievement by changing a picture from the version shown in Los Angeles County, upon which eligibility is based, shall subject such achievement to the risk of being declared ineligible by the Board of Governors."
But ‘Cats’ turned out to be a different case since they made relevant and necessary changes during their initial run and not after seven days (which sets the rule for Oscars). For instance, there were a few scenes with Judi Dench’s hand covered in fur, while in others, she had human hands. So, these kinds of discrepancies needs to be removed to be able to qualify for the awards. And so they did.
As reported to TheWrap, the Academy has confirmed a revised version of ‘Cats’ to be eligible for Oscars 2020. It has already been shortlisted as one of the ten movies in the ‘Best Visual Effects Category’, competing against ‘Avengers: Endgame’, ‘The Lion King’, and ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.’
There are chances of the musical being nominated but its unpleasant reception at the box office could be be a hindrance. Because, unlike its super-successful West End and Broadway versions, the ‘Cats’ movie turned out to be a catastrophic film, or so the reactions from the experts say, as do social media responses.