Getting the last laugh! Cats costars James Corden and Rebel Wilson had no problem with poking fun at their own film during the 92nd Academy Awards on Sunday, February 9.
Corden, 41, and Wilson, 39, hit the stage of Los Angeles’ Dolby Theater to present the award for Best Visual Effects. The top prize went to war drama 1917, but it was Corden and Wilson’s hilarious bit that stole the show.
The pair got the audience laughing the moment they stepped out onstage in full costume as their characters Jennyanydots and Bustopher Jones, respectively. “As cast members of the motion picture Cats,” Wilson began while Corden chimed in to add, “Nobody more than us understands the importance of…”
They said together, “Good visual effects.” Their bluntness caused the audience to erupt with laughter as they referenced the criticism Cats received in this area. After announcing the nominees, the actors went into full cat mode while pawing at the microphone before revealing the winner.
Cats’ visual effects faced issues ahead of its premiere in December 2019. At the time, director Tom Hooper admitted that he was adding the finishing touches on the effects hours before the star-studded affair.
“I finished it at 8 a.m. yesterday after 36 hours in a row. I just put the finishing touches on. So, I’m very happy to be here with it fully finished,” Hooper, 47, told Variety. “The premiere should be the first time people get to see it, and this is genuinely a premiere.”
When the musical film hit theaters days later, Universal Pictures sent a memo to theaters that declared that they would send a new version of Cats with “some improved visual effects.” The film went on to suffer a major box office loss, making only $27.1 million domestically and $44.7 million overseas for a combined total of $71.8 million. The film’s initial budget was a whopping $95 million.
In the wake of the film’s release, the Late Late Show with James Corden admitted that he had not seen Cats despite appearing in the project. “I haven’t seen it, but I’ve heard it’s terrible,” Corden joked during a BBC Radio 2 interview in December 2019. “I’ll catch it one day, I imagine.”
Corden and Wilson starred in Cats alongside Jennifer Hudson, Idris Elba, Taylor Swift, Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ian McKellen, Jason Derulo and Francesca Hayward.
