Posted on 12/12/2021 10:43:05 AM PST by CondoleezzaProtege
"West Side Story" had little to sing about this weekend.
20th Century Studios' remake of the 1961 classic musical brought in an estimated $10.5 million for its opening in North America this weekend. This total was below expectations, which projected the film to make closer to $15 million in its debut weekend.
The total is a bit surprising considering that the film had a lot working in its favor. For starters, it is directed by Steven Spielberg, one of the most recognizable and blockbuster directors in history. His name alone appeared to not be enough to get people to buy a ticket.
Great reviews also weren't enough. The film, which has a stellar 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes, garnered critical acclaim as well as early Oscar buzz. Yet, despite getting an "A" CinemaScore from those who saw it, the box office returns are lackluster at best.
The film could have some legs in theaters over the next few weeks as the holidays kick in and more families have time to hit the theater, but so far the movie has failed to find an audience...
"West Side Story" could have faltered this weekend due to myriad factors. There may have been concerns over coronavirus variants, older audiences have been somewhat reluctant to return to theaters compared to younger ticket buyers, and musicals have struggled at the box office of late.
Recent film adaptations of Broadway musicals, such as "In The Heights," "Dear Evan Hansen" and "Cats," all disappointed at the box office, with each bringing in less than $30 million in domestic ticket sales, according to Comscore (SCOR). And while musicals have also experienced some big hits, including "La La Land," "The Greatest Showman" and "Mamma Mia!," it appears "West Side Story" has so far fallen in the former category.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Spielberg and Kushner haven’t really put down the original film publicly. It’s more the entertainment media doing that. Spielberg knew Robert Wise and would not want to insult him after the latter has died.
I saw it. It isn’t.
It’s what happens when you do a remake with PC writers.
I heard it was very respectful of the original. Did you enjoy it?
The Passion of the Christ was in Aramaic (and a little Latin), with no subtitles. It was a monster hit.
Yeah, let’s put on a oxygen stifling face diaper, and sit in a movie theater for 2 hours, watching Spielberg’s latest WOKE pontificating.
No amount of casting could have saved “Temple of Doom”. It was just horrible.
I’d have given anything to have been able to sleep through Doctor Zhivago.
It was a baaaad version of Thugee history, IMO...
Very much so. It really isn’t changed all that much. It is better acted and directed.
It isn’t “WOKE pontificating”. It’s quite good.
Right!!!
There is no way that anything from HollyWeird could do to update any of the musicals from year ago.
From previews I have seen, it is totally out of whack, with its display of female anatomy and phony-sounding fifties talk. It doesn’t capture the zeitgeist or whatever.
You’re talking a whole nother dramatic category now. You go to a new Shakespeare production to see how they do it this time.
I was never interested in a remake of West Side Story. However, even if I had been interested, after reading that Spielberg was having the dialogue in Spanish with NO subtitles (because that would be racist), I figured that I could find something else to spend my money on.
I’ll stick to Shakespeare’s original.
“A boy like that would kill your brother. Forget that boy and find another. One of your own kind. Stick to your own kind,” Anita says to Maria.
I'll take your word for it.
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