Steven Spielberg says he wanted to adapt West Side Story since he was 10-years-old

Steven Spielberg is one of the greatest filmmakers of all time and his latest project, the adaptation of the classic musical West Side Story has opened to great response. The filmmaker has revealed that he has wanted to adapt the musical ever since he was ten years old. 

In an interview with Empire, the filmmaker was asked why he waited so long to direct a musical, to which the filmmaker answered, “You know, I've asked that question to myself many, many times, because it was always West Side Story I wanted to do. Since I was 10 and listened to the original Broadway cast album, right up ’til I saw the ’61 movie,” 

Spilberg also said that West Side Story has been his all time favourite musical and that the songs and music from the production has been in his life throughout.

Based on Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story, with lyrics written by the late Stephen Sondheim, the musical opened on Broadway in 1957 and the first film adaptation 1961 by directors Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. 

West Side Story is set in 1950’s New York and tells the story of a forbidden love story between Tony and Maria, two youngsters who are tied to rival street gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. 

Ansel Elgort plays Tony and Rachel Zegler plays Maria, in her debut, in the movie which is only Spielberg’s first ever musical, in a career that has a long list of great films. While the movie had a lot riding on it before its release, it seems to have lived up to the hype and is receiving overwhelmingly positive reviews.

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