West Side Story (2020 film)

West Side Story is an upcoming American romantic musical film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film stars Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler and is an adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim. It will also serve as a remake of the 1961 film adaptation directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins.

It is scheduled to be released in the United States on December 18, 2020, by 20th Century Fox and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures.

Cast

 * Ansel Elgort as Tony
 * Rachel Zegler as Maria
 * Rita Moreno as Valentina
 * Ariana DeBose as Anita
 * David Alvarez as Bernardo
 * Josh Andrés Rivera as Chino
 * Corey Stoll as Police Lieutenant Schrank
 * Brian d'Arcy James as Police Sergeant Krupke
 * Mike Faist as Riff
 * Ana Isabelle as Rosalia
 * Maddie Ziegler

Additional members of the Jets are to be portrayed by Brianna Abruzzo, Kyle Allen, Kyle Coffman, Ben Cook, Harrison Coll, Kevin Csolak, Kellie Drobnick, Julian Elia, Myles Erlick, Leigh-Ann Esty, Sara Esty, John Michael Fiumara, Paloma Garcia-Lee, Garett Hawe, Patrick Higgins, Sean Harrison Jones, Eloise Kropp, Lauren Leach, Jess LeProtto, Skye Mattox, Ezra Menas, Adriana Pierce, Brittany Pollack, Daniel Patrick Russell, Talia Ryder, Jonalyn Saxer, and Halli Toland.

Additional members of the Sharks are to be portrayed by David Aviles Morales, Yesenia Ayala, María Alejandra Castillo, Annelise Cepero, Andrei Chagas, Jeanette Delgado, Kelvin Delgado, Gaby Diaz, Yurel Echezarreta, Adriel Flete, Carlos E. Gonzalez, David Guzman, Jacob Guzman, Ana Isabelle, Melody Martí, Ilda Mason, Juliette Feliciano Ortiz, Edriz E. Rosa Pérez, Maria Alexis Rodriguez, Julius Anthony Rubio, Carlos Sánchez Falú, Sebastian Serra, Gabriela Soto, Ricky Ubeda, Tanairi Vazquez, Jamila Velazquez, Isabella Ward, and Ricardo Zayas.

Production
Steven Spielberg first expressed interest in directing a remake of West Side Story in March 2014. This prompted 20th Century Fox to acquire the rights to the project. Tony Kushner, who previously worked with Spielberg on 2005's Munich and 2012's Lincoln, revealed in a July 2017 interview he was writing the screenplay for the film, stating he would be leaving the musical numbers intact, and that the story would be more similar to the original musical than to the 1961 film.

In January 2018, it was announced that Spielberg would likely direct the film following completion of filming for a fifth installment of the Indiana Jones franchise. This was followed a few days later with an open casting call issued for the characters Maria, Tony, Anita and Bernardo. Additional open casting calls were hosted in New York City in April, and in Orlando, Florida in May. In July, the fifth Indiana Jones film was pushed back, allowing Spielberg to begin pre-production on West Side Story.

Justin Peck was hired to choreograph the film in September 2018, with Ansel Elgort cast in the film as Tony. In November, Eiza González emerged as a contender for the role of Anita. Rita Moreno was cast as Valentina, a reworked version of the character Doc.

In January 2019, newcomer Rachel Zegler was cast in the lead role of Maria, with Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez and Josh Andrés Rivera also cast as Anita, Bernardo and Chino, respectively. In March 2019, Corey Stoll and Brian d'Arcy James joined the cast. A month later, the rest of the ensemble comprising the Jets and Sharks factions were announced.

Composer David Newman is set to arrange and adapt Bernstein's original score for the film. Gustavo Dudamel, music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, has been engaged to conduct the orchestra during the film's recording sessions, with Jeanine Tesori to serve as vocal coach.

Release
West Side Story is scheduled to be released in the United States on December 18, 2020 by 20th Century Fox and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures.