The first trailer for the all-star film version of the hit musical Cats has been released - but while star Taylor Swift says her feline role is "everything", not everyone is impressed.

After seeing the first look, the general consensus seemed to be one of bafflement, with many viewers describing the appearance of the cats as "creepy" and "terrifying". You can take a look here.

Swift, playing Bombalurina, heads an all-star cast which also includes Idris Elba, James Corden, Francesca Hayward, Dame Judi Dench, Rebel Wilson and Jason Derulo.

The upcoming film gives Andrew Lloyd Webber's beloved musical the Hollywood treatment, with Oscar-winning director Tom Hooper at the helm, and CGI animation used to graft actors' heads on to the bodies of bipedal felines.

Posting the trailer on Twitter, Swift, who is well known as a cat-lover, wrote: "I am a cat now and somehow that was everything #CatsMovie."


But many others aren't sharing her enthusiasm.

One Twitter user wrote: "I'm all in for a Cats movie, but holy hell those designs are creepy!"

Another commented: "Looking at the Cats trailer, I prefer the Cats on stage to the movie. In the movie, actors look weird and creepy and CGI doesn't do any justice to them."

One fan compared the trailer to that of horror sequel It Chapter Two, which was released hours before, and questioned which was scarier.

They wrote: "The trailers for It 2 and Cats dropped today and I'm not sure which one is more terrifying."

Another Twitter user said: "I can't believe the Cats trailer is scarier than the IT trailer."

Obviously, the memes were quick to follow.

I put the song from Us onto the Cats trailer and I think it fits better. pic.twitter.com/VMBlbeDQs5 — "Ian" Abramson (@ianabramson) July 18, 2019

no one wants to see dame judy dench like this pic.twitter.com/29bVRFg7J0 — j.r. hennessy (@jrhennessy) July 18, 2019

Me trying to save Idris Elba from the CATS movie: pic.twitter.com/xlaIaAQNTh — Ryan Aguirre (@aguirreryan) July 18, 2019

I don't know why you're all freaking out over miniature yet huge cats with human celebrity faces and sexy breasts performing a demented dream ballet for kids. — Louis Virtel (@louisvirtel) July 18, 2019

The critical response was also mixed, with Rolling Stone magazine calling the trailer "even more terrifying than anticipated".

Comparisons have been made to the recent Sonic The Hedgehog film trailer, which led to the director promising to make changes to the character's design following an online backlash.

Cats is set to be released in cinemas on 20 December. Watch it if you dare.

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