A Tony Kushner/Steven Spielberg West Side Story?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 10:22am

Buried in this Hollywood Reporter article about Spielberg:

 

...And then, there's a potential remake of West Side Story — which would be a Fox/MGM co-production — for which Tony Kushner is working on a script. Spielberg has dreamt of adapting it "for decades," securing rights after trying to get them 15 years ago....

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/steven-spielberg-dreamworks-past-amblins-902544

 

This has the potential to be amazing, no?

 

 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 11:06am

With those two, yes!

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 11:11am

I'd be hopeful at it possible amazingness.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 11:24am

Finally, someone will get rid of Arthur's "frabba-jabba" talk for the Jet boys--and I wonder whether they will use the 1961 film placement of Cool vs. Krupke or keep it as in the stage version...

And whether they will use the all-girl version of America or the boys vs. the girls, as in the movie...

And whether they will use the Robbins choreography or not...

Updated On: 6/16/16 at 11:24 AM

[hork]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 11:26am

I've always wondered why Spielberg has never made or expressed interest in making a musical. I guess he's had his sights set on one particular musical.

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 11:29am

hork said: "I've always wondered why Spielberg has never made or expressed interest in making a musical. I guess he's had his sights set on one particular musical.

He's said for years that it's the one genre he's never tackled and he's been trying to do WSS for 15 years. 

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 11:51am

Part of me wishes this were for a live TV musical rather than a theatrical motion picture but with Steven and Tony at the helm, it's pretty obvious it'd be the latter.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 12:17pm

Spielberg worked on several potential projects with Andrew Lloyd Webber over the years, including an animated Cats and live-action Phantom (discussed for, like, five seconds after it opened in London) and Whistle Down the Wind, which was intended for the screen initially. (You can tell in the case of the latter especially; the existing story-line has the trademarks of Spielberg's film work all over it.)

PJ: Is it safe to say Arthur Laurents is spinning in his grave? (Meanwhile, Ernest Lehman, Leonard Bernstein, and Jerome Robbins are playing pinochle and having a chuckle at his expense.)

Updated On: 6/16/16 at 12:17 PM

[Tag]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 1:58pm

I feel like we've been hearing about this for years!

I'd love to see a Spielberg Miss Saigon though.

[gypsy101]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 2:02pm

yeah we've heard about this Spielberg WSS for a long time now. I doubt it will ever happen but hey, it would be cool if it did! maybe get some actors who can sing the two leads unlike the original film.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 6/16/16 at 7:55pm

hork said: "I've always wondered why Spielberg has never made or expressed interest in making a musical. I guess he's had his sights set on one particular musical.

 

"

I guess so, because the musical sequence in 1941 is quite brilliant! 

[thirtythirtyninety]

Posted: 7/6/16 at 10:47am

I'd definitely be willing to see what Spielberg and Kushner would do with WSS, but I'd REALLY like to see them do a new RAGTIME film, musical or otherwise.

 

For better or for worse, the material couldn't be more relevant right now.

[Roland von Berlin]

Posted: 7/6/16 at 11:53pm

Everything lies in the execution, of course, so one can hardly be pro or con at this point.

But it would seem that, when movie musicals are directed by those with no experience in--and, possibly, sympathy for--the form, the results are not just disappointing but simply incorrect. I'm thinking of John Huston directing Annie and Richard Attenborough directing Oh! What a Lovely War and A Chorus Line, but there are other examples. If Steven Spielberg had an affinity for musicals, wouldn't he have done one long before this?

Then, too, West Side Story is a beloved film. I'm not saying that it can't be challenged, but it would be a bit like remaking Gone With the Wind.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 7/7/16 at 7:30am

Steven Spielberg has expressed for years interest in doing a movie musical, he's just been looking for the right one to do.

[The Other One]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 11:29pm

I know it's a different genre, but their film "Lincoln" is, in spite of its across-the-board brilliant cast, staggeringly dull. 

I hope they leave "West Side Story" alone.

Updated On: 7/14/16 at 11:29 PM

[Valentina3]

Posted: 7/14/16 at 11:43pm

Oh he's definitely interested in musicals. That show you all hated, Smash? Steven Spielberg was one of the executive producers and the running idea was always that he'll bring Bombshell to Bway (still wanting that to happen, Megan is not getting any younger!)

[mamaleh]

Posted: 7/15/16 at 10:54am

If it's anything like the Spielberg-Kushner collaboration on the film MUNICH, in this version Doc will somehow be turned into the villain of the piece. Only half-kidding.