West Side Story: Steven Spielberg's musical remake gets a fantastic first trailer

26 April 2021, 09:11

West Side Story - Official Teaser

The first official trailer for the upcoming West Side Story has been unveiled, and it's already got us excited.

Arguably stealing the night during the 2021 Oscars, viewers were treated to the trailer for Steven Spielberg's new remake of the classic 1961 musical.

The trailer for the film - which centres on two rival New York street gangs in a Romeo and Juliet-style scenario - shows that Spielberg has stayed faithful to the beloved original.

Watch the trailer in full above.

There are clips of the songs 'Dance at the Gym', 'Somewhere' and 'Tonight', while the original film's iconic intro gets a revival.

West Side Story remake: Cast, songs, photos and all you need to know so far

Spielberg’s remake will Ansel Elgort as Tony and Rachel Zegler as Maria, with other roles including Ariana DeBose, Mike Faist and Brian d’Arcy James. Rita Morena, who won an Oscar for her role as Anita in the original movie, will also return for the remake in a different role.

West Side Story will be released on December 10, having been delayed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The new adaptation is set to be directed by Steven Spielberg, and written by Tony Kushner, the man behind Angels in America and Lincoln.

Kushner has said that he plans to keep it closer to the original Broadway musical than the 1961 movie version, saying that "there are aspects of urban life in ‘57, ‘58, ‘59 that weren’t touched on in the 1961 movie that we are focusing on."

Spielberg later told Vanity Fair: “This story is not only a product of its time, but that time has returned, and it’s returned with a kind of social fury.

“I really wanted to tell that Puerto Rican, Nuyorican experience of basically the migration to this country and the struggle to make a living, and to have children, and to battle against the obstacles of xenophobia and racial prejudice.”