Idris Elba is in final negotiations to join Taylor Swift in the film adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats.
Tom Hooper is directing the movie, which also stars starring Ian McKellen, Jennifer Hudson and James Corden, according to Variety.
This is Elba’s second feline role. He played Shere Khan in 2016’s The Jungle Book.
Cats will hit theaters on Dec. 20. It is one of the longest-running shows in West End and Broadway history and is based on T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. The show premiered at the New London Theater in 1981 and played for a record-breaking 21 years.
Elba is currently filming Hobbs & Shaw with Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham and will also be on the Netflix series Turn Up Charlie, which he co-created and executive produced. He will return to his starring role on the hit BBC series Luther next year.
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