Is there anything Steven Spielberg can’t do? I mean, seriously, this man has been the greatest filmmaker of our time and I understand he can do anything with his artistic prowess but we, his admirers never really thought that he would also invest himself into musicals.
Yes, that’s what Steven Spielberg’s new project is – a musical. The first teaser of West Side Story just arrived and we are thinking what else is left for this acclaimed filmmaker to work on.
For the last forty-nine and a half years, Steven Spielberg has given us audio-visual treats for almost every single genre, be it war or politics, be it ancient adventure with prehistoric animals, be it biopic or science fiction. I think it’s safe to say that with West Side Story, Spielberg will complete his arc of storytelling which he is continuing for generations.
West Side Story reportedly is an adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical by Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, which is based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. It was earlier adapted into a film in 1961 by Robert Wise who won an Academy Award for the film. The story revolves around Tony and Maria, who despite being associated with the rival street gangs, the Jets and Sharks, fall in love in the backdrop of New York City in the 1950s.
Now, this time it will be extremely delightful and interesting to see how Spielberg, the winner of two Academy Awards and numerous other accolades approaches this critically and commercially acclaimed ‘classical’ story which has already garnered 10 Academy Awards in 1960s. This will be quite a challenge, even for a movie-maestro Steven Spielberg to create the same kind of magic on screen with his version of West Side Story.
The cast of West Side Story includes American YouTuber Rachel Zegler and Ansel Elgort from ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ fame as Maria and Tony but Spielberg is leaving no stone unturned to make it a musical extravaganza. He is bringing in Tony Award winners Justin Peck and Jeanine Tesori; renowned Los Angeles Philharmonic conductor and Grammy Award winner Gustavo Dudamel; Academy Award nominee David Newman, who will arrange the background score; and Grammy-nominee Matt Sullivan, who will serve as executive music producer for the film.
Apart from the creative team of musical brilliance, West Side Story is produced by Spielberg himself, Kristie Macosko Krieger and Tony Award winner Kevin McCollum. Now as Steven Spielberg is also donning the director’s hat for the film, admirers around the world will restlessly wait for this timeless musical to reverberate in the minds and souls with the cinematic magic of Steven Spielberg.
West Side Story will be distributed by 20th Century Studios and is scheduled to release in U.S. theaters in late 2021 and just like cherry on top, it will mark the director’s 50 years in filmmaking since his feature-length directorial debut in November, 1971 with action-thriller film Duel.
Check out the first teaser of this upcoming Spielberg masterpiece: