Entertainment · Film · 2 hrs ago
Judi Dench calls 2019 Cats film a waste of goodwill and talent
Judi Dench has criticised the 2019 film Cats, calling it a waste of goodwill and talent.
The British actor played Old Deuteronomy in the film, adapted from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s successful musical.
The film was widely panned and considered a commercial failure, despite its star-studded cast.
Dench says she never watched the finished version, so she cannot judge it fully.
She also says no one sets out to make a bad film and that productions can fail when their parts do not come together.
She says there were no villains behind Cats, and that people can learn from work that does not succeed.
Dench’s memoir is due out on November 3, 2026, and includes her reflections on the film.
Judi Dench says the 2019 film Cats was “a waste of all that goodwill and talent.”
In her forthcoming memoir, she says she never saw the finished film and cannot judge it.
Dench says nobody sets out to give a poor performance or make a bad film, and that there were “no villains” in the making of Cats.
The film, directed by Tom Hooper, was widely panned and considered a critical and commercial failure.
Dench’s memoir, Is It Too Late to Make a Run For It?, is due to be released on November 3, 2026.
- Who
- Judi Dench, who played Old Deuteronomy in the film.
- What
- She called the film a waste of goodwill and talent in her forthcoming memoir.
- When
- She made the comments in a memoir due out November 3, 2026. The film was released in 2019.
- Where
- The film was released in cinemas. The sources do not state where Dench wrote the memoir.
- Why
- Dench said the film did not work out, while noting she had not seen its final cut and could not judge it.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The film adaptation of Cats was released.
Andrew Lloyd Webber called the film “off-the-scale all wrong” and said the experience had left him emotionally damaged.
Reports published excerpts from Dench’s forthcoming memoir, including her comments on the film.
Dench’s memoir is scheduled for release.
- Film release
- 2019
- Director
- Tom Hooper
- Dench’s role
- Old Deuteronomy
- Memoir
- Is It Too Late to Make a Run For It?
- Memoir release date
- November 3, 2026
5 sources
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What people are saying
What a waste of all that goodwill and talent.
There were no villains in the making of Cats.
the whole thing was ridiculous
off-the-scale all wrong