Thoughts I Had... while staring at the first promotional image from West Side Story (2020)
Monday, June 17, 2019 at 5:00PM by Nathaniel R
Click on the image to embiggen
Toto, we're definitely not in Kansas Oz anymore. We've gone from incredibly expressive color to desaturated earth tones. Whose idea was it to base the color palette on a Nancy Meyers interior rather than from the incredible cinematography and design of the 1961 classic...
We're not the only ones worried about this very drab color palette. Consider...
— Guy Lodge (@GuyLodge) June 17, 2019
Note to filmmakers: the last movie musical you want to be compared with is Clint Eastwood's take on Jersey Boys!
Remember when we shared the Instagram images of the Sharks and the Jets? Those photos were a lot more droolworthy than this one. But perhaps it's just one of those needlessly "SERIOUS" promo images and the film will be more colorful.
If the new West Side Story is terrible, as karmic revenge we demand announcements of remakes of E.T., The Color Purple, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jaws, Close Encounters, and Schindler's List by uninspired but famous filmmakers to f*** with Spielberg's legacy.
Judging by the cut of the jackets and the high waists of the pants, they've opted to stay in period (late 1950s) rather than to modernize the story.
Here's a few closeups, in case you didn't click the image to supersize it...
To the left that's "Anybodys" played by Ezra Menas (film debut) a non-binary or trans actor/singer (not sure which, as they hashtag both on their instagram. Or can you be both? Pardon my ignorance). We figured they might update the character this way, since we were discussing Anybodys obvious queerness and subtextual WSS queerness in our recent retrospective). That's Broadway regular Ben Cook to the right as "Mouthpiece"
Sean Harrison Jones (film debut) to your left as "Action" and Tony nominated Mike Faist (Dear Evan Hansen) to your right as "Riff," the two most defined characters from the original musical/film outside of the lead on the Jets side of things. Behind them almost entirely obscured is Patrick Higgins (film debut) as "Babyjohn"
Ansel Elgort (already a star of course) and Rachel Zegler (film debut) as Tony & Maria... so they're keeping the crazy height difference from the 1961 original, wherein Natalie Wood had to totally crane up to kiss her forbidden lover Richard Beymer.
To your left that's Tony winner David Alvarez (Billy Elliott) as "Bernardo" (film debut). We're excited to see him dance onscreen. The guy behind him that you can barely see is Julius Rubio as Quique (2nd film, he was in the dancing ensemble of The Greatest Showman) and Ricardo Zayas (film debut) to the right as "Chago"
To your left that's Josh Andrés Rivera (film debut) who is playing "Chino," Maria's would-be boyfriend. Up front that's Sebastian Serra (film debut) who is playing "Braulio" and in back... we believe that's Carlos Sanchez Falú (film debut) as "Pipo"
That leaves several of the Jets and Sharks previously announced not-pictured so we assume they're the ones who are only featured as dancers or might get an errant line here or there in group sequences? Well the male dancers plus most of the women who wouldn't be in this picture given that it's the gangleaders plus the romantic leads we're looking at.
P.S. We thank costume designer Paul Tazewell (Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert and the forthcoming Harriet, his narrative feature debut) for putting that colorful wristband on Braulio because this image definitely needed any spot of color it could get.
Reader Comments (32)
I can already tell I’m going to fast forward to Anita’s scenes and she’s not even pictured.
I can't wait to watch the fiery, energetic America song and dance sequence filmed in sepia tones. What are they thinking?
For a film featuring so many people of color, the filmmakers sure seem to have drained it of such. Yikes.
P.S. David Alvarez and Ezra Menas are super cute.
Me Thinks it is not looking very special.
Is it gonna be one of those things where the non-musical scenes are all drab, but then the screen burst into color once the music kicks in? So many questions, one not the least of which I can never stop asking - Why?
I vote for The Color Purple. Let’s donthe Broadway musical on screen.
Oh, good. If this is any indication, we're getting War of the Worlds Spielberg remaking West Side Story. Way to screw over something I, admittedly, only mildly liked. Yeah, outside of the America number (a great scene), most of West Side Story, personally, is just okay at best. But I get the appeal, especially if you're way more into Broadway musicals.
So if Ezra Menas does a great job and there’s award talk… as a non binary actor, do they have to choose between the two binary categories for awards consideration? I sense controversy coming.
Mmmmm…..someone please remind me again why they are bothering to do this? When you get it right the first time leave the damn thing alone!!
There are plenty of films with the germ of a good idea that didn't turn out quite right. Go to work on them and leave the classics be.
That picture is about as underwhelming as you can get.
All I can say is... No... this will not work. Sorry Spielberg but... I'm out.
Guys - seriously ? From one pic ? ... - give em a break ... is this now thebitchexperience.net ? Every year countless stage versions are out there... again & again - I agree it doesn't look very special - but I really don't believe Spielberg is doing dull & sepia. Calm down, wait and seeeee ;-)
We deserve nothing. We should be creating a guerrilla and boycotting the shooting instead of chatting here.
Re: the trans/non-binary question. Yes, you can identify as both!
Why is Kushner doing this? and why is Mark Harris bragging about it on Twitter like a teenager?
Andrew: If that happens, I'd argue, to simplify the issue if he doesn't want to commit to a single gender, to just hand a Special Award out. Lazy? Maybe. But not disrespectful.
They're both so smart! I don't get why the don't see the upcoming catastrophe either.
Seems a bit harsh to bail out on a movie after only one still. There's not even a trailer to go on yet!
I'm excited to see a cast that's mostly new to me and hear new versions of some pretty amazing songs.
Though I do like the idea of assigning someone - how about Peter Farrelly? - to remake a notable Spielberg movie if this turns out to suck.
"I want what happened in the movie last week to happen this week; otherwise, what's life all about anyway?"
Jerome Robbins would never let them walk down the street in such a haphazard non-dancer way. Attitude!
Will they also switch Cool and Officer Krupke like in the original movie? I hope so!
If you're going to be remaking a film that is basically perfect, you better have damn good reason. You have to prove not only that the film needs to be remade at this point in time, but that YOU are the person to do so. I can be convinced that it is time for another West Side Story, but nothing about this still inspires ANY confidence this team is the team to do so.
I've seen people defend this by saying "It's just a publicity still," but consider that this is them putting their best foot forward. THIS is what they choose as the first image used to promote the film. Hopefully they see how people are reacting and make some changes to the look, but I don't have the confidence that they will.
I am kind of with Dancin' Dan. I know it's still early but I'm finding such things as having Ansel Elgort play Tony to be pretty uninspiring. I'll be watching and hoping but not so sure this is such a great idea. Maybe we're all wrong and it'll be great.
Pedro: The Color Purple has already been announced. It's going to be produced by Spielberg, Oprah. and Quinicy Jones. BTW, Wicked is also being made into a movie.
Wish these were gang-banger Jets & Sharks that I’d be Terrified of encountering.
Almost resembles the good-time T-Birds of Grease and their rival gang...
I’m not against remakes in general, but when the predecessor is as essential as this, why bother? It’s akin to redoing THE GODFATHER. You may make a good version, but what’s stopping it from being forgotten about soon after its release?
@joel6 I agree with you.
It would be better if they do a remake from Nine
Spielberg is our Robert Wise a good studio director- the missing ingredient here is Jerome Robbin who really made that movie dance- they will never top the original's classic opening number. The only good thing is that they are giving a lot of Latino kids a chance to be movie stars
There are now more TFE posts on Spielberg's West Side Story than there were on Bradley Cooper's A Star Is Born pre-release... and we have 18 months until this thing is released. I'm just saying.
Why would you want the new adaptation to slavishly mimic the aesthetic of the previous one? If you're going to do another, make it distinctive.
The original approach to the storyline made the story incredibly interesting. The choice of the color palette of this kind was also optimal for the project.
To be honest, I've seen the present photos of the upcoming reboot/remake of the film version of "West Side Story", and I don't like what i've seen so far. The Jets, the Sharks and their girls in the original 1961 film version of West Side Story look much rougher and tougher than the Jets, Sharks, and their girls in Spielberg's upcoming reboot/remake of the film. The same thing can be said for Simon Oakland's Lt. Schrank and William Bramley's Officer Krupke, and even for Ned Glass, who played "Doc", the candy store owner, in the original 1961 film version of West Side Story..
The Jets, the Sharks and their girls in Spielberg's film version of West Side Story look far more like wealthy suburban prep school kids who are dressed to the nines for partying all over town than two street gangs at war with each other.
The Valentina version of Doc in Spielberg's upcoming remake of West Side Story seems all wrong for Rita Moreno, who was fantastic as Anita in the original 1961 film version. Rita had both the looks and the personality for that part. Moreover, it was clear that she made a great effort to make good as Anita, and it showed.
Unlike the scenic backdrops in the original 1961 film version of West Side Story, which the late Boris Leven had created by seamlessly binding on-location and soundstage scenes to create backgrounds that looked uncannily like the rough, rundown and impoverished section of a big American city, the scenery backdrops in Spielberg's upcoming reboot/remake of the film West Side Story look much more like the wealthier, tonier parts of a big city, rather than an impoverished, rough and rundown sections of a city.
Also, the colors that are used are far too jarring, as well, and the colors don't seem as unified as they do in the original 1961 film version, because they go from earth-colored to very jarring in a rather obvious manner, while the colors of the original 1961 film version are more gradual.
Having said all of the above, not only do I stand by everything I've said, regarding my opinions about Spielberg's upcoming reboot/remake of the film West Side Story but the fairly recent allegations against Ansel Elgort, who's been chosen to play Tony in the reboot/remake of WSS I(i. e. sexual assault, especially on underaged girls, plus his posting of a picture of himself in the nude for some cause (which escapes me right now) that he's involved in, not to mention the creepy vibe that he seems to give off in pictures of him, have all stiffened my resolve to vote my pocketbook and boycott Spielberg's upcoming reboot/remake of the film West Side Story (inotherwords, not go to see it) when it hits the movie theatres in December 2021.