Turns out, there's already been one Bollywood version of West Side Story called Josh, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai. But as far as I know, it doesn't use the same songs.
Spielberg will do a great job on the visuals , but I can't see myself sitting through this . The original is a classic and for me, does not need a remake - it may be a blockbuster for younger viewers though. Cute touch having Rita Moreno in the film. Still it's not for me; especially b/c it's a grueling story. Wizard of Oz Gone with the Wind To Kill A Mockingbird Dr Strangelove ..................( name your own here ) Doesn't matter how old the movie is , mho : when a film is a classic , let it be. PS I have been watching old Sherlock Holmes movies in recent months and they far surpass any remake I've seen. The original- with Basil and Nigel as the indelibly realized protagonists - is the classic - it's elementary, my dears .
Does Spielberg want to do a western? I know that Marty is currently working on a western and they are saying it'll probably be the last of it's kind. I do know that this idea of doing a musical has been a bit of a goal for Steven for the past decade at least and I guess he just settled on West Side Story.
Judging by the cars and props, the movie takes place in 1961. I'd be hard-pressed for them to have a good reason for a "funky" treatment for any of the classic showtunes.
With West Side Story, Spielberg finally was able to do a full-fledged musical. He's already done war movies, ghost stories, science fiction, big dramas, historical biographies, broad comedy... but Steven hasn't done a Western yet.
There are two "original scores". Bernstein's jazzier one for a stage pit, and Irwin Kostal's lush one for a full orchestra, used in the film.
I really don't think this will surpass the original film on any level, even with Spielberg and Kushner at the helm.
The gay Romeo & Juliet thing has been done. The gay thing went over in the late 60's. It is like 2019's Booksmart. Nobody cares, nobody went, female director and all. The Academy awards are sinking faster than the Titanic...
I enjoy those as well, although they are a bit schizophrenic, as the original Fox films are set (properly) in the Victorian England of Doyle, while the later Universal films were staged against the backdrop of World War II. No doubt the updating of them to the 1940's was done to save on the budget for costumes and staging, but having Holmes and Watson chasing Nazis against the backdrop of The Blitz is/was a bit disconcerting.
It's hard to get excited about the movies when nobody was allowed to go to the movies. Plus nearly all of the Best Picture nominees were either downbeat stories of suffering, or perceived (some fairly, some unfairly) as playing to a limited demographic: Nomadland - homelessness Promising Young Woman - rape Sound Of Metal - deafness The Father - dementia Judas And The Black Messiah - a "Black" film Minari - non-English Mank - director's vanity project; Hollywood-does-Hollywood; black & white The Trial Of The Chicago 7 - courtroom drama with a nearly-exclusively white male cast (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - most acclaimed film not nominated for BP) - another "Black" film Also notice what's missing that was present last year's BP noms: Robert DeNiro, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, Leo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, Emma Watson, Joaquin Phoenix, Adam Driver, Laura Dern, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Scarlett Johansson. Big stars, mostly in larger-than-life roles. Sure folks like Daniel Kuluuya and Amanda Seyfried are "getting there", and Frances McDormand and Gary Oldman and Anthony Hopkins and Chadwick Boseman are in that rarified air of "great performance/great box office", but that's four instead of last year's thirteen.
Well, most of the people who saw these did so because they were available on streaming services. None of them appear to be movies that the general public would pay money to see in movie theaters anyway. They had greater exposure being available on streaming services. Not that the general public watched them there either. But these are the type movies of movies that the Academy salivates over... When it comes right down to it, the critical success of a movie should not rest on the "star power" of its casting.
I just overall question both the need and wisdom of remaking this. Spielberg has been on a losing streak for a long time now, I can’t see this returning him to glory. The original is just so iconic what could he possibly improve beyond sets etc? Even that’s a stretch the palette of the original is outstanding I dunno Steve .....
Actors of Puerto Rican descent, 1961: 1 (Moreno, who had to wear skin darkening makeup herself to "match" the other PR characters) Actors of Puerto Rican descent, 2021: 20
He's not on a losing streak. RP1 was half a billion worldwide, more than triple its budget and his biggest gross in 10 years, and got good reviews. The Post got a lot of award noms, great reviews and did almost $200 million worldwide, a very good result for that kind of movie. Before that he had the flop BFG, but then Bridge of Spies and Lincoln were before that, both similar successes as The Post was. So 4 successes out of 5 isn't a losing streak by any measure. I think that West Side Story probably isn't seen that much by younger people these days. I think it's become more dated than some other "classic" movies have. I doubt people get a real "wow" factor from watching it now. Spielberg can add a "wow" factor that will give it a more modern feel, despite still being a period piece. I think there's room for improvement in the singing, dancing, acting and cinematography. The original still has the problem of a dubbed singing voice for a lead star, which is something people just don't want to see anymore. Milli Vanilli killed that from ever being acceptable creatively again. It's now a semi-scandal whenever any singer is caught giving a performance to "playback." As for the idea of remaking bad movies, that usually only happens if they change the title and don't advertise it as a remake. So their status as remakes tends to go unnoticed.
Ready Player One was not a good movie Lincoln was tedious only saved by DDL The Post meh Bridge of Spies, that was a good movie I will concede that one. But in all honesty, none of these achieved Spielberg’s once great highs, they don’t have that magic and wonder he used to crank out so effortlessly it seemed. Still waiting on his late career masterpiece. Hasn’t happened yet and I don’t think remaking West Side Story is going to be it, either.
