West Side Storyfound its place atop the North American box office, though its opening weekend totals underperformed what was expected of the movie musical.
The Steven Spielberg–directed reimagining of the 1961 film took in an estimated $10.5 million over the weekend, which is low even for the pandemic-affected box office, according toVarietyandThe New York Times. Thefilm debuted with high praise from critics, as it currently holds a 93 percent aggregate score onRotten Tomatoes.
Disney’sLin-Manuel Mirandaanimated musicalEncantoslipped down to second place after spending two weeks at No. 1, adding $9.4 million to its overall haul so far (about $150 million globally, perVariety).Ghostbusters: Afterlifecame in third place in its fourth weekend in theaters with $7.1 million, andHouse of Guccisat at No. 4 with Marvel’sEternalsat No. 5.
The2022 Golden Globe nominationswere announced Monday morning, withWest Side Storyrecognized in four categories: best motion picture, musical or comedy; best supporting actress Ariana DeBose; best actress Rachel Zegler; and best director Spielberg.
In addition to Zegler as Maria and DeBose as Anita, the film stars Ansel Elgort as Tony. Maria and Tony are two star-crossed lovers who fall on opposite sides of a forbidden romance in 1957 New York. Original star Rita Moreno returns in an all-new role too.
Niko Tavernise
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“We just wanted for this movie to get it right in the way that we wanted every single person who plays a Puerto Rican to be from the Latinx community, and that was a mandate from the get-go,” Spielberg said.
He also revealed why he chose the iconic musical as his latest project, saying, “I think I wanted to direct a musical film because I knew I couldn’t sing and dance. … It’s a tremendous way of sort of throwing myself into a genre that physically I would never be part of, except to be able to tell a story in that idiom.”
West Side Storyis now playing in theaters.
source: people.com
