Steven Spielberg’s ‘West Side Story’ Wraps, So the Sharks and the Jets Can Cool It Now

At last, there can be peace among the Sharks and the Jets. Because that’s a wrap on Steven Spielberg‘s West Side Story. The acclaimed filmmaker has been talking about making a musical for years, and now, he’s done it. Spielberg’s new take on the Broadway musical of the same name by Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim stars Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler, with a script courtesy of acclaimed playwright and screenwriter Tony Kushner.

In honor of the West Side Story production wrap, Spielberg released the following:

Just kidding. That’s the video Spielberg cut to yell at Carl’s Jr. for trying to market a sandwich called the SpielBurger. Here’s what Spielberg actually released to mark the end of West Side Story shooting:

The ‘Berg also released new behind-the-scenes pics from the flick, featuring him with his cast.

West Side Story “explores young love and tensions between rival gangs the Jets and the Sharks on the streets of 1957 New York. The cast includes Ansel Elgort (Tony); Rachel Zegler (Maria); Ana Isabelle (Rosalia); Corey Stoll (Lieutenant Schrank); Brian d’Arcy James (Officer Krupke); Curtiss Cook (Abe) and Academy Award-winner Rita Moreno, who plays Valentina and also serves as one of the film’s Executive Producers.”

The film is produced and directed by Spielberg, adapted by Tony Kushner for the screen from the original 1957 Broadway musical, which was written by Arthur Laurents with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and concept, direction and choreography by Jerome Robbins. Tony Award-winner Justin Peck choreographed the musical numbers in the film. Tony Award-winning producer Kevin McCollum and Academy Award-nominated producer Kristie Macosko Krieger were involved with the production as well.

The film’s music team included conductor Gustavo Dudamel, who was in charge of recording of Bernstein’s iconic score; Academy Award-nominated composer and conductor David Newman (Anastasia) who arranged the score for the new adaptation; Tony Award-winning composer Jeanine Tesori, who worked on the cast on vocals; and Grammy-nominated music supervisor Matt Sullivan, who executive produced.

West Side Story was previously adapted into a 1961 film directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. But Spielberg’s take is said to be closer to the Broadway production than the previous movie.

West Side Story opens December 18, 2020.

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