First look of Steven Spielberg's adaptation of West Side Story unveiled 

Steven Spielberg is producing and directing the new adaptation of Broadway musical, West Side Story, which was in turn inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and written by Arthur Laurents.

The upcoming musical, about young love and the tension between rival gangs — the Jets and the Sharks — on the streets of 1957 New York, is currently under production. It stars Ansel Elgort as Tony and Rachel Zegler as Maria. The acclaimed 1961 film adaptation, also named West Side Story, directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, starred Richard Beymer and Natalie Wood in the lead roles.

The first look of the upcoming adaptation features the two actors, alongside a host of other cast members. The film has been slated to hit the screens in December 2020.

Tony Kushner, the Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, has written the script for West Side Story (2020), which has choreography by Justin Peck.

Gustavo Dudamel will supervise the recording of Bernstein’s iconic score, while composer and conductor David Newman (Anastasia) will be arranging the score for the new adaptation.