A Street Cat Named Bob film gets go-ahead with Luke Treadaway in the lead role

A real-life movie about a homeless man and his cat made good will start filming shortly
Street sensation: James Bowen and Bob
Rebecca Reid
Ben Norum25 August 2015

It’s been in the pipeline for a while, and now it's confirmed. A Street Cat Named Bob film is being made, and it will feature British actor Luke Treadaway in the lead role.

Treadway – who appeared in the West End version of A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – will play James Bowen, a former drug addict and Big Issue seller who lived on the streets with his ginger cat named Bob.

It is not confirmed who will play Bob.

The busker came across the cat while living in sheltered accommodation in Tottenham in 2007 and credits the cat with saving his life because he was forced to quit his drug habit and get his life together in order to look after him.

Cast call: Luke Treadaway at The Old Vic theatre
Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images

Bowen made a name for himself when he published his autobiographical book A Street Cat Named Bob: How One Man And His Cat Found Hope On The Streets in 2012, which went on to become a best seller.

Subsequent books have done equally well and have now racked up millions of sales worldwide and been translated into 30 different languages.

The production is set to begin a seven week shoot in the UK from October.

Meanwhile, Bowen has also successfully crowdfunded over £150,000 to open a cat café called Bob’s World which will be populated with cats that have been rescued, providing “a home for homeless, abused or unwanted cats” as well as a place for “other like-minded individuals to come in and have tea, coffee and refreshments whilst being surrounded by cats”. An opening date is as yet unconfirmed, though he is seeking a site in Covent Garden.

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