The production first kicked off in 2019 and nearly two years after we got the first glimpse of Steven Spielberg‘s adaptation of West Side Story. The full trailer was finally revealed during the Oscars on Sunday night.
The trailer features Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler who are playing the starring roles of Tony and Maria. The film is a retelling of Romeo & Juliet, where the two characters fall in love in New York City in the 50s as a feud between their respective gangs – the Jets and the Sharks – comes to a head.
We don’t have any dialogue in the trailer but we can see a string of scenes like enemies holding chains as weapons, the two main characters catching eyes for one another across the room at a school dance, and a recreation of some of the 1961’s version’s most iconic dance numbers. All this while “Somewhere (There’s A Place For US)” by Leonard Bernstein faintly plays in the background.
In addition to Elgort and Zegler in the main characters, the cast of the film is also composed of Ariana DeBose as Maria’s best friend, Anita, David Alvarez as the Sharks leader, Bernado and Mike Faist as the leader of the Jets, Riff.
Rita Moreno, who won Academy Awards for playing Anita in the 1961 version, will also be appearing in the film as Valentina. After the announcement of the casting, back in 2018, she shared in a statement, “Never in my wildest dreams did I see myself revisiting this seminal work. And to be asked by Steven Spielberg to participate is simply thrilling!”
The movie was first supposed to be released in December 2020 but due to Covid-19, it was delayed. It will now be released on December 10 – which will coincide with the 60th anniversary of the original film.
Watch the West Side Story trailer here:
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