A new West Side Story poster depicts Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler recreating the fire escape scene from the original film. Spielberg's hotly anticipated remake of the beloved musical classic is finally set to hit screens on December 10, after being delayed an entire year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Starring Zegler in her breakout role as María alongside Elgort as Tony, buzz around West Side Story has been building since the first trailer dropped during the 93rd Academy Awards back in April. The story follows an affair between two young people in the Upper West Side of New York City, María and Tony, who come from rival gangs. María is the sister of Bernando (David Alvarez) who is the leader of the Sharks, a Puerto Rican gang, and Tony is a former member of Jets, a white gang. On Zegler's impressive debut, Spielberg made it clear that he was intent on hiring Latina and Latino actors in the roles of the Sharks, righting the wrongs of the 1961 white American casting.
The original West Side Story movie was an adaptation of the 1957 theatre production written by Arthur Laurents, with music and lyrics by renowned composers Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim. The story itself was based on Shakespeare's most famous tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, becoming a reimagined version of the story. Instead of Verona, the story is set in Manhattan, but certainly keeps with the theme of family rivalry and star-crossed lovers. As such, imagery from Romeo and Juliet is heavily present in the original film.
In a post to the West Side Story Instagram account, a brand new poster shows Elgort and Zegler frozen in an iconic image from the original movie, with Tony climbing up María's fire escape. Dubbed the 'balcony scene' for its homage to Romeo and Juliet, Tony is pictured clinging on to the railings of María's fire escape. The pair stare lovingly each other's eyes as they steal a moment away from their disapproving families. See the poster below:
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Clearly drawing heavily on the original film, this recreated West Side Story image serves to prompt the memory of those who are familiar with the story. As is this case with many of Spielberg's films, it's likely that the Academy Award-winning director wants to draw in both fans of the original musical and new viewers. Despite the controversy surrounding the allegations of sexual assault against Elgort, which many assumed was the reason that previous promotion for the film didn't focus on Elgort's Tony, the new image puts both Zegler and Elgort in the spotlight.
Zegler's performance as María in the film has already landed her two further roles, in both Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Disney's upcoming live remake of Snow White, suggesting that audiences are going to be very impressed with her debut role. West Side Story is undoubtedly set to be both a nostalgic and refreshing affair, with the question of whether Spielberg has managed to do the story justice looming over its head. Comparisons between Spielberg's film and the original are already occurring, and this is likely to continue once the film is released in December. Then, it will be up to audiences to decide which is the better version of this classic love story.
Source: West Side Story/Instagram
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