It’s hard to imagine that in Steven Spielberg’s illustrious career that there is a franchise that the master director has yet to tackle. And somehow, despite making movies out of almost every genre imaginable, Spielberg has never directed a musical. All that is about to change this December though, when his highly anticipated adaptation of the popular Broadway musical West Side Story, comes out to theatres around the world.
West Side Story is one of those timeless musicals created by Arthur Laurents, Stephen Sondheim, and Leonard Bernstein that has been delighting fans for over 50 years. The story is essentially a different take on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet that’s set in 1950’s New York City amidst the rivalry between two gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. It’s a story about how love brings about a challenge to that dynamic. It’s a familiar tale with some epic musical numbers and dance sequences perfect for the stage, but can Spielberg translate its magic to the big screen? Well let’s take a look at this first trailer released for the film:
This trailer doesn’t go too deep in revealing the story or many of the film’s anticipated dance numbers, but it certainly looks slick and teases that there is a lot more to come. So, we will likely need to wait a little longer before getting a better glimpse of what Spielberg has created here. What is on offer can at least ensure fans of the musical that another poor Cats debacle this will likely not be. Not only does its production look slick, but Spielberg is just too good a director to mess up on that level.
West Side story has been adapted into a film a few times before, most famously back in 1961 by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins where it went onto win 10 Academy Awards. Spielberg and Disney will be hoping for more of the same this time around when the films releases at the end of the year.
Last Updated: May 3, 2021
