Steven Spielberg has revisited an archaeologist adventurer with a whip, dinosaurs running wild and even made repeated visits to the Second World War but the legendary director has just said he will not make a musical again.
The worst day of the West Side Story shoot was the last day, because I knew I wouldn’t direct another musical.
Spielberg made the comments about his 2021 creative work at a Producers Guild of America awards nominee breakfast on Saturday. While the passion project that he wanted to do since he was 10 flopped at the box office, he has not shut the door to producing more musical content for movie theaters. His Amblin Entertainment production company is working on a new version of The Color Purple and Spielberg also mentioned a surreal moment when getting the late Stephen Sondheim’s blessing to adapt his acclaimed play’s lyrics.
[His two dogs kept] sniffing at my crotch, [but I didn’t dare shoo them away.] So, I endured these lovely animals for a while.
Such patience did not lead to profit but did result in praise for a well-made film, as shown with its Oscar nominations. In our review we gave it 4.5 stars and said it was “an explosive reminder that life and love are gifts worth celebrating,” and, while the piece has been adapted before, the new version is “reimagined in such a breathtaking new way that it’s as if you’re watching an entirely different film.”
West Side Story is available to stream now on HBO Max.
