by Conan Simmons – December 13, 2021 – 9:05 pm
The trailers leading up to the release of Steven Spielberg’s remake of ‘West Side Story’ did well in showcasing the quality of the production while hinting at the intricacies of the choreography. Early reviews for the film raved about how good it is and how it’s not to be missed as it may even be better than the 1961 Best Picture Oscar winner the original film was. Both film adaptations are based on the 1957 Broadway musical that was a smash hit at the time with music by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim and written by Arthur Laurents who liberally adopted William Shakespeare’s play ‘Romeo & Juliet’ into a well-crafted take on New York City street gangs.
Personally, I’ve never cared for the 1961 film, or the particular Shakespeare play it took from. No matter how well made the movie looked from the trailers I just cannot get enthused to see it. Still, I thought the movie would get close to $20 million or even $30 million if turnout was good on opening weekend. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one not enthused to see it.
Steven Spielberg’s ‘West Side Story’ made a nearly flat $10.6 million in spite of box office analysts and critics raving about how big of a box office smash the film was poised to be. Even now critics at a variety of outlets are chanting “don’t call it a bomb” as they breathlessly hold out hope ‘West Side Story’ will find an audience over the coming weeks to turn the flop into a hit. Their hope isn’t entirely unfounded as ‘The Greatest Showman’ flopped in its opening weekend but held in at the box office to turn into a sleeper hit and Oscar winning film. The big difference is ‘The Greatest Showman’ starred an actual movie star by the name of Hugh Jackman with support from popular younger star Zac Efron and star-on-the-rise Zendaya. That’s most likely where ‘West Side Story’ went wrong.
Who stars in ‘West Side Story’? That’s a question that the many people who haven’t seen the movie are still asking. The biggest name in the picture is Rita Moreno who won an Oscar for her performance in the 1961 ‘West Side Story’. Here she plays a newly created character just so the filmmakers could shoehorn her into the frame. Rita Moreno may be a nice addition to the cast, but she is far from a box office draw as she has mainly worked in television for the past 50 years. So, who else stars in ‘West Side Story’?
The closest the movie has to a leading box office name is Ansel Elgort. “Who?” you are probably asking when you hear the name, which is exactly the problem with ‘West Side Story’. The movie doesn’t tout the stars, nor does it trumpet the arrival of a new name you need to know. The other stars in the movie are Rachel Zegler and Ariana DeBose, both new to the screen and both not properly showcased in the publicity leading up to the film. As much as the critics heap their love on the film none of them gush over what breakout stars any of the leads might be.
There are some tabloid outlets that are trying to tie the box office failure of ‘West Side Story’ to the unsubstantiated claim tweeted out in 2020 accusing Ansel Elgort of sexual assault. That tweet was quickly deleted but made enough of an impression to taint Elgort with scandal. I don’t see that potential scandal as being a factor in the poor box office of ‘West Side Story’ because most people reply “who?” when hearing the name Ansel Elgort. If people don’t care enough to know his name, they care even less about whatever personal life he may or may not have. To be fair, Ansel Elgort has starred in a couple of movies you’ve probably heard of – the 2014 teen romance ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ and 2017’s action flick ‘Baby Driver’. While those movies did well at the box office neither made Ansel Elgort into a household name.
As for the chances of ‘West Side Story’ turning into a hit in theaters, don’t hold your breath. ‘West Side Story’ debuted with $10.6 million as a theater-only release. Earlier this year, ‘In the Heights’ debuted to just over $11 million as a day-and-date release before quickly fading away. Both musicals were hyped up to be potential box office hits, both suffered dismal debuts. I can’t help but notice both films also lack big name stars to draw audiences into theaters.
Aside from the box office disappointment of ‘West Side Story’ being the big Hollywood story over the weekend, the remainder of the Weekend Box Office Top 5 are the usual suspects, I mean, the expected holdovers from last weekend.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE TOP 5 (December 10-12, 2021)
- ‘West Side Story’ – $10.6 million – musical (debut)
- ‘Encanto’ – $10 million – animated (drop $2.7 million, 21% down)
- ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ – $7.1 million – fantasy (drop $3.3 million, 32% down)
- ‘House of Gucci’ – $4.1 million – drama (drop $2.7 million, 40% down)
- ‘Eternals’ – $3.1 million – fantasy (drop $800k, 21% down)
Total for the Weekend Box Office Top 5 comes to $34.9 million. It is decline of 8% for a $3 million drop from last weekend’s total of $37.9 million.
Just in case anyone, especially professional box office analysts and other film critics, want to continue holding out hope for ‘West Side Story’ to turn into a hit take a hard look at the next two weeks of theatrical releases. Marvel’s ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ starring Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Alfred Molina, Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe and so many more stars. Guillermo Del Toro’s ‘Nightmare Alley’ starring Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett. The Keanu Reeve’s starring franchise favorite ‘The Matrix: Resurrections’. The latest installment of a popular action franchise, ‘The King’s Man’ starring Ralph Fiennes, Colin Firth, Gemma Arterton and Stanly Tucci.
Who stars in ‘West Side Story’?