Steven Spielberg is set to direct a new version of West Side Story, which will be adapted by Tony (Angels in America) Kushner and use Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s original songs.
The news broke as casting director Marci Liroff posted a casting call for the film on Twitter, seeking performers between the ages of 15 and 25 to fill the principal roles of Tony, Maria, Anita and Bernando.
West Side Story is a modernised version of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, reflecting the immigrant experience in 1950s New York.
The film is currently listed as ‘in development’ and Spielberg is due to complete a fifth instalment in the Indiana Jones saga with Harrison Ford before starting production on the new musical.
