West Side Story (Steven Spielberg, 2021)
The same musical, filmed again sixty years later by Steven Spielberg.
The score is worth hearing again with a new cast, and the city around the lovers is worth looking at harder.
You want the musical made now, and you will probably watch the 1961 one afterwards to compare.
What it keeps and what it changes
Keeps: the stage musical by Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, and its 1950s New York.
Changes: the cast and the emphasis. Rachel Zegler is María, Ansel Elgort is Tony, and Rita Moreno, Anita in 1961, returns as a new character, Valentina.
Whose story is it?
the neighbourhood’s as much as the lovers’. Ariana DeBose’s Anita and Mike Faist’s Riff are given room.
How much time does it ask?
A feature, 2 hours 36 minutes. Rated PG-13.
Rachel Zegler, Ansel Elgort, Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez, Mike Faist, Rita Moreno.
Where to find it
Other ways to get it: Find where it’s streaming — JustWatch
Common questions
Is Rita Moreno in the 2021 West Side Story?
Yes. She played Anita in the 1961 film, and in Spielberg's 2021 film she plays Valentina, a new character.
More ways into Verona: Romeo and Juliet (George Cukor, 1936) · Romeo and Juliet (Franco Zeffirelli, 1968) · William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (1996)