‘I’ve heard it’s terrible’: Cats star James Corden admits he has not seen new film yet

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James Corden has revealed that although has not yet watched Cats, he has “heard it’s terrible”.

The film, which also stars Taylor Swift, Idris Elba, Judi Dench and Ian McKellen, has had an extremely poor critical reception, flopped at the box office and dominated headlines in recent weeks for its strange use of CGI.

Corden, who plays Bustopher Jones in Tom Hooper’s adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, made the remarks when appearing on Zoe Ball’s Radio 2 show.

“I haven’t seen it, I’ve heard it’s terrible,” said Corden.

“The reviews have been a bit harsh,” Ball added, before Corden’s Gavin & Stacey co-star Larry Lamb joked: “It’s got some brilliant reviews.”

At one point in the film, Corden’s feline character coughs up a furball into Ray Winstone’s face.

In the US, the musical grossed just $6.5m (£5m) in its opening weekend, ranking fourth after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Jumanji: The Next Level and Frozen 2. Cats also bombed in its UK debut, where it grossed a dismal £4.4m.

The musical cost more than $100m (£77m) to produce before marketing costs.

Cats was awarded two stars by The Independent’s critic Clarisse Loughrey, who wrote that the film is “one of those rare cinematic events that feels like a collective hallucination”.