CGI-film Cats gets an update while still in theatres
[10:21 Fri,3.January 2020 by blip]
We are now used to the fact that our digital devices need some firmware updates after purchase to reach their peak performance. With films, on the other hand, there used to be, with a few exceptions, an ultimate deadline: once they were running in the cinemas, they were ready, no matter what the condition. If the director was too much harassed by the studio, a director&s cut would occasionally follow -- years later.
But just before Christmas it was announced that the musical adaptation Cats would be reissued to the cinemas in a revised version with "some improved visual effects" after a disastrous launch weekend and much malice at the request of director Tom Hooper. The completion of the film is supposed to have been done under extremely high time pressure, so that there would also be numerous mistakes in the final screening, for example a naked human hand, where by using "digital fur technology" a cat&s paw should actually be visible. Among other things these errors have been fixed in Cats Version 2.0.
If this is enough to limit the damage is doubtful, but the attempt is interesting and we ask ourselves: will this set a precedent? Will we get beta-releases on the big screen in the future, which will be redesigned depending on the reaction of the audience? And why limit it to visuals only, we could imagine -- at least for animated films -- also rewritten dialogues, shortened scenes and more. Instead of conducting test screenings in advance to determine the effect of a film version on viewers and then making changes if necessary, it might even be possible to lure viewers into the same film twice if changes are made after the start...
more infos at bei www.theverge.com;)
