‘Cat Person,’ Based on Viral New Yorker Story, Debuts Trailer Ahead of October Theatrical Release

“Cat Person,” which launched with a bang at Sundance, will be released in theaters on Oct. 6 through Rialto Pictures.

The wild thriller — which stars Emilia Jones (“CODA”) and Nicholas Braun (“Succession”) as a couple whose signals cross, leading to disturbing interactions — made its world premiere to a huge response at the festival in January.

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Susanna Fogel directed the polarizing film, which is based on Kristen Roupenian’s short story of the same name in The New Yorker that went viral following its publication in 2017, becoming the magazine’s most-read piece of fiction ever.

Michelle Ashford wrote the screenplay. In his review for Variety, Peter Debruge called it “wickedly ambiguous Sundance conversation-starter.” Still, some fans of the short story have expressed outrage that the film includes a third act that is not reflected in the source material.

StudioCanal fully financed the film, which is executive produced by Susanna Fogel, Michelle Ashford and Daniel Hank and produced by Jeremy Steckler and Conde Nast Entertainment/The New Yorker Studios’ Helen Estabrook.

Fogel is repped by UTA and Lighthouse Management & Media.

During the premiere Q&A, Ashford said that one of the things that intrigued her about the project were the discussions that happened once Roupenian’s story went viral and how it allowed her the chance to write complicated characters.

“A lot of people thought that one of these characters had to be the villain,” she said. “What we are saying is that no one is the villain — it’s just a catastrophic miscommunication.”

Watch the trailer below:

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