Steven Spielberg's West Side Story remake has officially wrapped filming. Based on Shakespeare's romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story tells the tale of two star-crossed lovers. Taking place in 1950s New York City, it revolves around a pair of rival gangs, the Sharks and the Jets, who square off for control of their Upper West Side neighborhood. The tension is kicked up a notch when the Jets' co-founder, Tony, falls in love with Maria, the younger sister to the Sharks' leader, Bernardo. The epic love story originally started off as a stage musical in 1957 and later made the transition to the big screen in 1961. The latter production went on to win 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor and Actress for George Chakiris and Rita Moreno, respectively.
Spielberg's want to remake the classic love story spans years, but it officially kicked off last year when multiple open casting calls were sent out. Earlier this year, it was announced that Baby Driver's Ansel Elgort was cast as Tony and a supremely talented New Jersey-based high schooler named Rachel Zegler was cast as Maria. Broadway performers David Alvarez and Ariana DeBose were also cast as Bernardo and Anita, respectively, along with Josh Andrés Rivera who is playing Chino. Not to mention, Rita Moreno will also be returning to her West Side Story stomping grounds in an original role created by Spielberg.
The highly-anticipated production started shooting earlier this year, and as of October 2, it's officially wrapped. Spielberg shared a thoughtful thank you to the cast and crew via his production company, Amblin Entertainment's, Twitter account. Along with it, he also shared a couple of behind-the-scenes images with the film's cast. He exclaimed that filming this project has been, "a journey without precedence: a joyful, stunningly moving, endlessly surprising encounter with the story and score of one of the world's greatest musicals." Check out his full statement below:
Though a trailer is still a long ways away from being released, anxiously awaiting fans were treated to a special first-look image back in June that showcased the two rival gangs, the Sharks and Jets, along with Tony and Maria holding hands in the center. Based on the image alone, it appears that the upcoming film is sure to be a stunning adaptation of the original stage musical that will certainly have a lot of eyes on it going into next year's awards season. After all, that could be just the reason why Disney pushed the film's release back to December of 2020 following their acquisition of Fox.
There are so many things to be excited about when it comes to Spielberg's take on this classic story. Not only is the musical itself one that transcends generations, but the casting alone is sure to catapult the film to success. Zegler, in particular, will certainly steal the show, as her singing and acting abilities are so impressive it's hard to believe this is her first outing in a movie-musical. Not to mention, with Spielberg at the helm, there's no doubt that it will be a grandiose and beautifully done production that honors one of the greatest musicals in history.
Source: Amblin/Twitter
