The legendary director is set to tackle a remake of the iconic musical for his next project, and is currently in the casting process. Spielberg is taking his time casting his West Side Story remake.
Baby Driver star Ansel Elgort was recently cast as Tony, one of the leads of the film. Now, rumor has it that Elgort’s Baby Driver co-star Eiza González is in the running to play Anita, a role made famous by Rita Moreno in the 1961 film. More on the West Side Story remake cast below.
Gonzalez broke out thanks to her role as Darling in Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver last year, and she’s continued to book multiple roles since. She still has Robert Zemeckis’ Welcome to Marwen coming out later this year too, which has awards potential. Her filmography will continue to fill up quickly with Robert Rodriguez’s Alita: Battle Angel early next year. She also has a role opposite Vin Diesel in Bloodshot, and just signed on for Godzilla vs Kong.
If this report is true, Steven Spielberg is planning a mini-Baby Driver reunion for his West Side Story remake. Showbiz411 says Eiza González, who played Darling in Baby Driver, is likely to play Anita in the Spielberg musical. González previously appeared in Jem and the Holograms, and has a busy future ahead: she’ll be seen in Welcome to Marwen before the year ends, Alita: Battle Angel in 2019 and Godzilla vs Kong in 2020. Here’s a video of González singing, to show she’s got the pipes for the role.
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Spielberg has been looking to bring West Side Story back to the big screen for several years, and his interest hasn’t wavered. The classic story was first brought to life in the 1957 stage musical, before director Robert Wise brought it to theaters in 1961, and won 10 Oscar nominations. Only someone of Spielberg’s stature could even think about following this effort up, and after all this time of development, his schedule has finally aligned itself perfectly to make it happen thanks to Indiana Jones 5‘s delay. His West Side Story took a major step forward when Baby Driver star Ansel Elgort was cast as the new Tony, and Spielberg may make it a Baby Driver reunion.
THR revealed that Spielberg “has spent the better part of the year looking for stars for his movie, with actors needing to be able to sing, dance and, of course, act their heart,” and that “the search was taking so long that Hollywood observers worried the project would be shelved, just as casting challenges caused Spielberg to shelve The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara. The production looked at thousands of actors and dancers in New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Puerto Rico, with many thinking Spielberg would cast an unknown in the lead.”
The blockbuster filmmaker has been talking about making a musical for almost his entire career, so this is something of a dream project for him, and he’s determined to get it right. Tony Kushner, who wrote scripts for Spielberg’s Lincoln, Munich and the still-unmade The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara, wrote the script for the new film, based on the 1961 film adaptation written by Ernest Lehman, and the original Broadway musical by by Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim.
If Gonzalez does join Elgort for West Side Story, one has to wonder if Spielberg will try and swoop up other Baby Driver cast members. Lily James is no stranger to musicals after just starring in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, so maybe she could play Riff’s girlfriend Graziella. It’s also easy to see Jon Hamm fill the shoes of Police Lieutenant Schrank. But even if Elgort and Gonzalez are the only stars from Baby Driver to join West Side Story, they would be a strong start to the cast and a signal of the type of talent Spielberg is looking for.
The West Side Story remake is expected to arrive in 2019. After that, Spielberg will move on to the next Indiana Jones film.
(Excerpts) Read More at: SlashFilm.com and ScreenRant.com