Steven Spielberg's West Side Story Remake!

From casting news to how this version will differ from the 1957 original.

Hollywood is having a real revival moment, but this is one remake we can get behind: the Sharks and the Jets are heading back to the big screen, this time, in an adaptation of West Side Story from director Steven Spielberg, who has been in love with the story since he was a child.

Written content by Caroline Hallemann for Town & Country

“Our entire home was festooned with classical musical albums, and I grew up surrounded by classical music. West Side Story was actually the first piece of popular music our family ever allowed into the home. I absconded with it—this was the cast album from the 1957 Broadway musical—and just fell completely in love with it as a kid. West Side Story has been that one haunting temptation that I have finally given in to,” he said.

Here’s what we know about the film so far:

West Side Story will premiere in December of 2021.

While it was originally slated to premiere around Christmastime in 2020, the date was pushed back due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The production has started filming in NYC.

Photographers caught David Alvarez (the movie’s Bernardo) and Ariana DeBose (who will play Anita) shooting a dance sequence in Harlem in July of 2019.

According to Page Six, specifically, the movie had plans to shoot in 2019 “outside apartments on 131st Street between Fifth and Lenox avenues in mid-July.”