Entertainment

The 'Cats' Trailer Just Dropped Featuring Taylor Swift, Idris Elba, & So Many More Stars

Broadway lovers, prepare yourselves, because the first trailer for Cats is here, and it has everything: singing, dancing, and a whole lot of Taylor Swift in the role she was born to play. Swift is front and center as Bombalurina, who is clearly the fanciest of the Jellicle tribe of felines. (She even appears to enjoy some catnip in one scene.) However, the trailer's best moment goes to Jennifer Hudson, whose rendition of "Memory" is so rousing, you might stand up in your office and cheer.

In addition to Swift and Hudson, the movie stars a proverbial who's who of Hollywood elites. The cast includes Dame Judi Dench, Idris Elba, Sir Ian McKellen, Rebel Wilson, James Corden, and so many more. Surprisingly, the cast has gone full-cat. In the long-running Broadway show, the actors don cat suits for the role, but the Tom Hooper directed movie uses CGI to fully cat-ify the actors, creating some weirdly realistic looks, especially for Swift's orange tabby.

The movie is set to hit theaters on Dec. 25, 2019, but thanks to the trailer, fans are already freaking out over the actors' feline makeovers on Twitter — and wondering exactly what the movie is about. It seems the famously confusing plot is still hard to parse when the story moves from the stage to the big screen, but there's no denying how impressive the film looks (although the debate over whether or not it could be nightmare fuel is definitely in full force on social media).

Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats first opened at the New London Theatre in 1981, and it quickly became a beloved musical. The show ran for 21 years in London, as well as an additional 18 on Broadway. But "Memory" may be the show's most enduring legacy. The stunning song is a certified pop culture phenomenon that even people who aren't Cats aficionados have heard of.

However, the rest of the play is a bit more of an enigma if you're not in the know. And the reactions are Twitter show that more than a few people are confused by this star-studded feline extravaganza. Twitter user @HClaytonWright wrote, "Twitter reacting to the #CatsMovie trailer is some of the funniest Internet I’ve seen in years. Prescribe it on the NHS." And @laura_hudson added, "Absolutely no one: The CATS movie: what would it look like if Snapchat cat filter and furry fan art had a baby that could speak only in intolerable nursery rhymes and that baby was Judi Dench."

Still, others can't wait to see how Cats translates to the big screen. Director Colin Trevorrow tweeted on July 17 before the official trailer dropped, "I’m just a guy who has seen the CATS trailer, waiting for the rest of the world to see the CATS trailer. Stunning. #CatsMovie." Twitter user @cmmoynihan wrote, "I would like to inform all of you that I will solely be talking about the CATS movie from this point forward." And @TheirUsernameIs said what needed to be said with, "I know everyone is focusing on the look of the #CatsMovie but can we PLEASE talk about how Jennifer Hudson singing Memory is AMAZING!"

The look of the movie may be dividing the internet, but one thing everyone can agree on is that Hudson's rendition of "Memory" is flawless.