Second Trailer For WEST SIDE STORY

[erik]

A second trailer (the first came at the Oscars this past March) for Steven Spielberg's reworking of WEST SIDE STORY, slated for release on December 10th, near the 60th anniversary of the 1961 original's cinematic release:

www.playbill.com/article/watch-the-emotional-new-trailer-for-steven-spielbergs-west-side-story-movie

Stephen Sondheim, who wrote the songs to Leonard Bernstein's music, says that Spielberg "nailed it":

www.indiewire.com/2021/09/stephen-sondheim-steven-spielberg-west-side-story-terrific-1234665328/

[rick]

When Steven Spielberg asked Tony Kushner to take on ‘West Side Story,’ he thought, ‘He’s lost his mind.’ But he dared.

[erik]

I think Tony Kushner had a point, that maybe Spielberg had indeed flipped his lid. On the other hand, Spielberg apparently has been wanting to do a musical film for a very long time; and thanks to his mom playing both the Broadway and movie soundtrack recordings of West Side Story at their home in Phoenix when he was in his mid-teens, he developed a taste for that particular film and its eternal Romeo And Juliet-inspired storyline.

Is he crazy for having actually dared to rework a film that won all ten of the Academy Awards it was nominated for in 1961? Perhaps. But can you not also say that about any great filmmaker who dares to push themselves, as so many have (Stanley Kubrick, anybody?). And I think that after all these years, when his films have grossed billions at the box office, he has long since earned the right to take chances of this sort. He may pull it off yet again (IMHO).