For a number of years, one of the many projects on Steven Spielberg's slate was an adaptation of the Broadway musical WEST SIDE STORY, and it seems like the director is getting ready to move forward as it's been announced that Ansel Elgort (BABY DRIVER) has been cast in the lead role of the upcoming film.
Inspired by Romeo and Juliet, WEST SIDE STORY is centered around the rivalry between two street gangs, the Sharks and the Jets. Ansel Elgort is set to play Tony, a former member of the Jets who falls in love with Maria, the sister of the leader of the Sharks. Larry Kert played Tony in the original 1957 Broadway musical with Richard Beymer (Twin Peaks) playing the role in the 1961 feature film. As Spielberg has previously said that he's dreamed of adapting WEST SIDE STORY for "decades," this project has all the makings of something quite special. As for the rest of the cast, it's expected that Spielberg will be casting Latinx actors, wisely avoiding any sort of white-washing controversy. Production on the film will reportedly get underway in the summer of 2019.
Do you think that Ansel Elgort is a good fit for Tony?
Ansel Elgort will next be seen in THE GOLDFINCH, an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Donna Tartt. As a young man, Theodore "Theo" Decker's (Elgort) mother was killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The tragedy changes the course of his life, sending him on a stirring odyssey of grief and guilt, reinvention and redemption, and even love. Through it all, he holds on to one tangible piece of hope from that terrible day…a painting of a tiny bird chained to its perch. The Goldfinch. The film also stars Nicole Kidman, Jeffrey Wright, Luke Wilson, Sarah Paulson and will hit theaters on October 11, 2019.
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