Idris Elba Tapped to Play Macavity in the Cats Film

Casting is rolling out for the eagerly anticipated movie-musical version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Broadway smash Cats. The newest star added to the company is Emmy nominee Idris Elba, who is in final negotiations to play Macavity, according to Deadline.

Elba earned Emmy nominations for The Big C and Luther. His screen credits also include Golden Globe-nominated turns in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom and Beasts of No Nation. Elba appeared off-Broadway in a 2001 production of Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida.

The Cats film will also star the previously announced Jennifer Hudson, James Corden, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift and Laurie Davidson. Additional casting is to come.

Based on T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, the musical tells the story of the Jellicle cats and each cat's individual quest to be selected as the lucky one who will ascend to "the Heaviside Layer." As previously announced, the Cats film will be directed by Tom Hooper and choreographed by Wayne McGregor.

The film is slated to be released on December 20, 2019.