West Side Story Trailer Reveals Steven Spielberg’s Big-Screen Musical Adaptation

Watch the first trailer that debuted during this year’s Oscars here.

Amidst the 2021 Academy Awards celebration, 20th Century Studios has released the first official trailer for West Side Story, adapted from the classic stage musical by the legendary Steven Spielberg. This is our first look at the new film adaptation outside of previously released images that have already teased this romantic and dramatic story. Starring Rachel Zegler and Ansel Elgort, who play star-crossed lovers Maria and Tony in a tale of two warring gangs in New York City, this new version of West Side Story is coming to theaters years in the making.

West Side Story is adapted from the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name, written by  Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, which in itself is based on the William Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet. The musical had been previously adapted for the big screen in 1961 by director Robert Wise, starring Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer and Rita Moreno.

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The latest film adaptation, which was originally scheduled for release in December 2020, is directed by Spielberg with Tony Kushner writing the screenplay. In addition to Zegler and Elgort, West Side Story stars Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez, Mike Faist, Corey Stoll and Brian d’Arcy James. Moreno also returns for this new silver-screen adaptation as Valentina, a role changed from the “Doc” of the 1961 adaptation and who provides guidance to the younger generation of characters in the film.

We’ll have our full thoughts on the new trailer up shortly, but for now we wanted to get you the footage as quickly as possible.

West Side Story is currently slated for a December 10 release. Check out the trailer, as well as a new poster that was released earlier today ahead of the Oscars, below:

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