See the First Trailer for Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story" Remake
After a year-long delay, the film is set to premiere this December, coinciding with the original's 60th anniversary.
After being delayed an entire year from its original release date, Steven Spielberg's upcoming West Side Story adaptation finally has a trailer.
The minute-and-a-half clip, which premiered during the Oscars last night, offers no dialogue. But there's plenty of dancing, some vague fight shots, and a snippet of "Somewhere," a song from the original Broadway musical as well as the 1961 film. Watch the trailer below:
West Side Story was originally slated for release last December. Disney announced in September that due to the pandemic, the film would be pushed to December 10, 2021, which coincides with the 60th anniversary of Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins's original film.
Spielberg expressed interest in doing his own West Side Story as early as 2014; and by 2018, his involvement in the project was basically confirmed. Ansel Elgort was quickly cast as the role of Tony, while main love interest Maria is played by young newcomer Rachel Zegler, who caught Spielberg's attention with clips she posted to Twitter in which she gives Lady Gaga a run for her money. Who said social media was ruining a generation?!?
The rest of the West Side Story 2021 cast includes Ariana DeBose as Anita, David Alvarez as Bernardo, and Mike Faist as Riff — all of whom have performed on Broadway before. Rita Moreno, who played Anita in the original film, will be playing a reworked version of Doc named Valentina. Moreno is also an executive producer on the new adaptation.
Overall, it looks like Spielberg's West Side Story will be a little less brownfacey, so that's one good thing to happen this year so far.