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Bless His Heart, Jason Derulo Truly Thought 'Cats' Would 'Change The World'

Jason Derulo had very, very high hopes for "Cats," in which he made his on-screen debut as Rum Tum Tugger. (Photo: Getty Images)
Jason Derulo had very, very high hopes for "Cats," in which he made his on-screen debut as Rum Tum Tugger. (Photo: Getty Images)

A new interview with Jason Derulo has us asking: “Wh-wh-wh-what did you say?”

The “Savage Love” singer talked to The Telegraph about choosing to make his on-screen debut in the 2019 film iteration of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Cats” and his thoughts are ... illuminating.

“For the longest time, I was trying to figure out what’s the perfect first role,” Derulo said in an interview published Wednesday. “‘Cats’ checked all the boxes. You can’t get a more star-studded cast, you don’t get a more respected director than an Oscar winner, and Rum Tum Tugger is a legacy role, a standout character in a classic musical.”

The 30-year-old went on to say that he “got chills down my spine” when he watched the trailer and added: “I thought it was gonna change the world.”

Though the film did feature Hollywood and musical heavyweights like Judi Dench, Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift, Idris Elba and, of course, Derulo, it was a box office bomb. After costing a whopping $100 million to produce and an additional $95 million to $100 million for global marketing and distribution fees, per Variety, “Cats” didn’t even scratch up $40 million after two weeks in theaters.

Additionally, the film’s “digital fur technology” did not perform well. Viewers were quick to call out the special effects for being “disturbing” and brain-melting.

There were also issues with the fur effects not being implemented on certain parts of the actors’ bodies, particularly the hands:

In an unprecedented move, director Tom Hooper and Universal announced on opening day that they’d soon be sending out an updated version of the film with “some improved visual effects” in an effort to combat some of those aforementioned problems. But it was all too much for the film to come back from.

Still, you have to admire Derulo’s view of the whole ordeal. He knew the film was, uh, avant-garde from the start, telling Playbill in December 2019 that he expected people “to be weirded out.”

“Of course people are going to be like, ‘What is this?’ People have never seen this before. It’s left field; it’s transporting people in a new dimension. I’m excited for people to get to watch,” he said at the time.

Now, we’re not going to say “Cats” didn’t change the world, but perhaps Derulo’s next project should involve less ... meowing.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.