Watch a mildly cursed behind-the-scenes look at the Cats movie

For a while, it seemed like the Cats movie was definitely a joke. Week after week, ridiculous new names would become attached the the live-action version of the long-running Broadway musical: Taylor Swift, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Jennifer Hudson, Rebel Wilson — it all just seemed far too weird to be true. Today, we have some kind of confirmation that all these people are, indeed, in a live-action Cats movie, and yes, that movie will be as bonkers as it sounds. In a new behind-the-scenes clip, Swift, Derulo and the gang talk about how goddamn excited they are to be in the live-action Cats. How jazzed they are to be breathing life into these iconic characters. How stoked they are over the incredible "digital fur technology" which, yes, is something discussed at length in the clip.

It's all very weird; Swift and Hudson are good enough actors to at least try to pretend they're psyched on the whole thing, while Idris Elba mostly seems bemused. The rest of the actors strike somewhere in the middle; this project is probably nothing more than a big paycheck for Judi and Ian, and I salute them on that. A trailer for Cats is due on Friday and the film is out in December. Watch the featurette above.

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