Steven Spielberg’s WEST SIDE STORY Fails to Perform In Opening Weekend
By Movieguide® Staff
Steven Spielberg’s recent remake of the classic 1957 musical WEST SIDE STORY earned a disappointing $10.5 million in its domestic debut.
The lackluster opening is made especially subpar due to Spielberg’s involvement with the project and the money put into making WEST SIDE STORY, which amounted to $100 million according to IMDb.
Variety reported:
Industry insiders estimate “West Side Story” needs to generate at least $300 million globally to break even in its theatrical run. The film is playing exclusively on the big screen and doesn’t have a hybrid streaming component, which could help ticket sales in the long run… but it has an awful lot of ground to make up.
However, many analysts are asking the obvious question: Why would a project with beloved source material made by a movie great fail to perform at the box office?
When stacked up against previous renditions, Spielberg’s WEST SIDE STORY contains more foul language, more violence, and less heart than its predecessors.
A portion of Movieguide®’s review reads:
WEST SIDE STORY (2021) is Steven Spielberg’s remake of the famous movie and stage musical. Two street gangs in 1950s New York City, the Jets and the Sharks, are fighting for territory. The leaders of the two gangs, Riff and Bernardo, decide to have a big rumble to decide who gets the territory. Riff wants his friend, Tony, who just finished a one-year prison term for beating up someone, to join the fight. However, at a school dance, Tony falls in love with Bernardo’s sister, Maria. Maria asks Tony to stop the fight, but he fails. A terrible tragedy results.
The love story, music and dancing in this version of WEST SIDE STORY have their moments. However, they’re marred by clunky directing, muddled dialogue, and bad casting. The standout in the cast is Ansel Elgort, who plays Tony. He has great charisma and an excellent voice. WEST SIDE STORY has a light Christian, moral worldview. Eventually, love overcomes the racial animosity between the two gangs. The positive worldview in WEST SIDE STORY is marred by strong pagan, immoral behavior, including many strong, gratuitous profanities.
“They’re chasing an audience that doesn’t rush out opening weekend,” Paul Dergarabedian of Comscore said. “You have to look at longterm playability. That will really tell the real story of the box office for ‘West Side Story.'”
“If it got universally bad reviews, it would be game over,” Dergarabedian added. “But I wouldn’t write off ‘West Side Story’; given the quality and time of year. I think it could do well.”
However, Movieguide® would point to the movie’s heightened foul language and violence as the real reason for its flop.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
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