Spielberg’s West Side Story

[briankershawjr]

Posted: 1/5/18 at 11:20pm

Rumor has it Steven Spielberg will be remaking West side Story.... Any thought ???

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 1/5/18 at 11:24pm

Lucas Hedges as Tony?

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 1/5/18 at 11:33pm

I really, really hope this actually happens. The 1961 film is perfection on every level, but the duo of Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner behind one of the greatest musicals ever created has the potential for sheer brilliance.

[Tag]

Posted: 1/5/18 at 11:44pm

Yes, this was in the news in June 2016.  Spielberg secured the rights then after trying to get them 15 years prior.  Tony Kushner is adapting the script.  It would be a Fox/MGM co-production.

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 1/6/18 at 12:16am

I just hope they go with unknowns for the cast.

[Jessetenny]

Posted: 1/6/18 at 12:29am

I really hope they choose Ana Villafane or Naya Rivera for Anita. I'm so sad about Ana not doing the concert anymore, but would love to see what she could do with Anita.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 1/6/18 at 1:05am

Anita is a dancing role. Villafañe is as much a dancer as Karen Olivo is. Takes more than being a Latina to play Anita in WEST SIDE STORY. Gotta dance and act; singing isn’t the demanding portion of the role.

[Jessetenny]

Posted: 1/6/18 at 1:32am

BrodyFosse123 said: "Anita is a dancing role. Villafañe is as much a dancer as Karen Olivo is. Takes more than being a Latina to play Anita in WEST SIDE STORY. Gotta dance and act; singing isn’t the demanding portion of the role."

Did you see her in On Your Feet!? She was great and that required dancing.

And Karen Olivo won the Tony for it so....

Updated On: 1/6/18 at 01:32 AM

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 1/25/18 at 12:47pm

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Casting-Call-Goes-Out-for-Steven-Spielbergs-WEST-SIDE-STORY-Remake-20180125

Looks like this is actually materializing!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/25/18 at 12:50pm

Please keep Ariana Grande and her brother as far away from this as possible.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 1/25/18 at 1:01pm

Lin will have to be involved with this somehow, right? Who could he play?
Mark Rylance as officer krupkee would be nice.
I’m still holding onto my lucas hedges idea.

[Tom5]

Posted: 1/25/18 at 1:06pm

About 15 years ago I saw the original in wide screen in a revival theater. (Might have been the Ziegfield, but I'm not sure) At the end of the TITLES people applauded. I don't see this being remade by anyone once the practicalities come into focus.

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 1/25/18 at 1:20pm

Lest we get too excited....Spielberg regularly holds casting sessions for projects he is contemplating directing. Not all of those projects materialize. Sometimes (as with the case of Memoirs of a Geisha) he has an entire cast lined up - and still he opts out of directing.

[CorkySt.Clair]

Posted: 1/25/18 at 1:51pm

I want to keep an open mind about this, but I just can’t see how anything can top the original. WSS was the show that got me into theatre, and I used to watch the movie once a month. Sure, it’s not perfect, but it’s been such an impactful piece in my own life that I have a lot of skepticism about a remake.
That said, if it does turn out to be actually good (If it ends up getting made) I’d be pretty darn ecstatic.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 1/25/18 at 2:01pm

Did you see her in On Your Feet!? She was great and that required dancing.

You’re kidding, right?   Ana as Gloria ONLY dances in the “Tradición” number, and it’s standard dancing, nothing technical.   The rest of the show she’s doing movement - not dancing.  They are concert performance numbers.   Anita in WEST SIDE STORY is a full-out technical dancer role as it was created for Chita Rivera.  Yes, Karen Olivo may have won a Tony for the revival but the Anita choreography was modified for her.  She wasn’t capable of doing any true technical choreography.   

Spielberg will cast a strong dancer in this honoring the role as it was created.  He will not make any compromises.   

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 1/25/18 at 2:09pm

He will also cast somebody who is age appropriate for a film. 

[uncageg]

Posted: 1/25/18 at 2:24pm

I am not a fan of remakes but I can't wait to see what he does with this.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 1/25/18 at 2:34pm

This and MFL are the two movie musicals I would love to see remade...for the same reason.  I would really like to see more realistic settings.  MFL is obviously entirely filmed on a soundstage.  95% of WSS is.  

 

[newintown]

Posted: 1/25/18 at 2:41pm

What's wrong with soundstages? Why are locations "better?"

Updated On: 1/25/18 at 02:41 PM

[Jarethan]

Posted: 1/25/18 at 2:54pm

They just seemed artificial to me (I know they're musicals, which are artificial any way you look at it, but I found some of the scenes jarringly unreal).

The MFL movie, which I do enjoy, is nevertheless very static to me; and I think a sizable part of the reason is the staginess of the whole thing.  Compare them to The Sound of Music.  Even without the Alps scenes, the movie does such a good job of avoiding staginess.  It would not have been nearly as good if filmed entirely on a soundstage, as was MFL.

Chicago was probably filmed entirely on a sound stage, but it worked.  So, I am not black and white on this issue.  I just think those two movies would have been better had they gotten out of the sound stage more.

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 1/25/18 at 3:10pm

Ansel Elgort would actually be a good Tony.

[uncageg]

Posted: 1/25/18 at 3:14pm

MFL?

[Babe_Williams]

Posted: 1/25/18 at 3:21pm

CorkySt.Clair said: "I want to keep an open mind about this, but I just can’t see how anything can top the original. WSS was the show that got me into theatre, and I used to watch the movie once a month. Sure, it’s not perfect, but it’s been such an impactful piece in my own life that I have a lot of skepticism about a remake.
That said, if it does turn out to be actually good (If it ends up getting made) I’d be pretty darn ecstatic."

I am here too. I hope that if this happens that its amazing. I would love to see younger audiences become obsessed and interested in WSS.

[newintown]

Posted: 1/25/18 at 3:35pm

"I would love to see younger audiences become obsessed and interested in WSS."

The original can't inspire that?

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 1/25/18 at 3:39pm

newintown said: ""I would love to see younger audiences become obsessed and interested in WSS."

The original can't inspire that?"

No I don't think so. I think the original is a great film, but very dated.