Spielberg's West Side Story: A New Cinematic Masterpiece

Steven Spielberg's adaptation of West Side Story premieres Christmas 2021, with Tony Kushner co-writing the screenplay. The film pays homage to the 1961 original, which won 10 Oscars, and the 1957 Broadway musical with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and music by Leonard Bernstein. Sondheim, who died on November 26, 2021, was deeply involved in pre-recordings. Rita Moreno, who played Anita in the 1961 film, returns in a newly written role and serves as a producer. The film was shot on location in New York City neighborhoods that still retain a 1950s look, including Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Harlem, and Harrison, New Jersey. Five blocks of West Side ruins were physically reconstructed, with only digital removal of satellite dishes and window bars. The story remains set in the 1950s to preserve the period-specific language and the context of urban demolition between 60th and 72nd streets.