‘West Side Story’ posts disappointing opening
NEW YORK >> Despite critical acclaim and two years-worth of anticipation, Steven Spielberg’s lavish “West Side Story” revival made little noise at the box office, debuting with $10.5 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday — a worrisome result for a movie industry struggling to recapture its finger-snapping rhythm.
A dazzling widescreen adaptation and Spielberg’s first musical, “West Side Story” was one of the year’s most eagerly awaited titles. With a script by Tony Kushner and Rita Moreno returning to her breakthrough film 60 years later, the $100-million “West Side Story” epitomizes a grand-scale prestige film that Hollywood infrequently produces anymore. It hit theaters on a wave of glowing reviews and expectations that it could play a starring role in March’s Academy Awards.
But “West Side Story” faced a challenging marketplace for both adultdriven releases and musicals. Audiences have steadily returned to multiplexes in the second year of the pandemic, but older moviegoers, who made up the bulk of ticket-buyers for Spielberg’s latest, have been among the slowest to return.
Musicals, too, have struggled to catch on in theaters. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights” launched with $11 million in June but the Warner Bros. release simultaneously streamed on HBO Max. The critically panned “Dear Evan Hansen,” from Universal, debuted with $7.4 million in September.
But this was Spielberg. If anyone could reignite moviegoing, the thinking went, it was him.
Surely a director synonymous with box office, could spark a fuller revival in theaters. “West Side Story,” too, is among the most beloved musicals. The 1961 film, directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise, made $43.7 million (or about $400 million adjusted for inflation) and won 10 Oscars, including best picture.
“West Side Story” can still be expected to play well through the lucrative holiday corridor, during which younger-skewing films like “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (expected to next weekend become the first pandemic release to open with $100 million or more domestically) and “Sing 2” will likely be the top draws.