Taylor Swift cast in movie version of 'Cats': Hollywood reports

[July 21, 2018]   LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Taylor Swift has been cast in a big screen version of the stage musical "Cats," in what will be the pop singer's biggest movie role so far, entertainment publications Variety and the Hollywood Reporter said on Friday.

The 28-year-old "Look What You Made Me Do" singer will join Oscar-winning singer and actress Jennifer Hudson, talk show host James Corden and veteran British actor Ian McKellen in the movie, the publications said.

Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Cats," based on a book of poems by T.S. Eliot, was first staged in London in 1981 and has been produced around the world. The movie version is a production of Working Title Films, which did not return requests for comment on the reports.

Swift, a 10-time Grammy winner whose "Reputation" album was the biggest seller of 2017 in the United States, made her film acting debut in the 2010 romantic comedy "Valentine's Day."

The Hollywood Reporter, citing sources close to the production, said Hudson was expected to play Grizabella, whose character sings the show's famous "Memory" ballad.

Swift is being eyed as the flirtatious red cat Bombalurina, while McKellen will play the elderly feline leader Old Deuteronomy, the Hollywood Reporter said.

Britain's Tom Hooper, whose past credits include Oscar best picture "The King's Speech" and musical "Les Miserables," will direct the movie, which is due to begin shooting in Britain in November, Variety said.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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