Steven Spielberg’s remake of ‘West Side Story’ now includes Corey Stoll and Brian d’Arcy James. The film tells the story of Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ but in the setting of 1950’s New York, with warring white and Puerto Rican gangs.
Stoll will play Lieutenant Schrank, the New York City detective charged with quelling civic unrest in his racially-torn precinct. He has been busy on both the big and small screens, most recently appearing as Buzz Aldrin in Damien Chazelle ‘First Man.’ On television, he had roles in Amazon’s ‘The Romanoffs’ and FX’s ‘The Strain.’ Next, he is part of the upcoming ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ Netflix prequel series ‘Ratched,’ from Ryan Murphy.
James has the role of Sergeant Krupke, the vet cop whose beat included the territories of two warring street gangs, the Sharks and the Jets. He was also in ‘First Man’ last year, as well as the Netflix series ’13 Reasons Why.’ Other recent films include Tom McCarthy’s ‘Spotlight,’ Jason Moore’s ‘Sisters’ and Aaron Sorkin’s ‘Molly’s Game.’ Next, he will be in the last Fox X-Men film ‘Dark Phoenix,’ releasing June 7th, and Warner Bros.’ ‘The Kitchen,’ releasing August 9th.
Meanwhile, Ansel Elgort (‘The Fault in Our Stars,’ ‘Baby Driver’) is playing the lead role of Tony.
Also, original ‘West Side Story’ actress Rita Moreno will return, but as a new character. She plays Valentina, a re-conceived and expanded version of the character of Doc, the owner of the corner store in which Tony works.
Moreover, the rest of the current cast and their roles:
- David Alvarez as Bernardo
- Ariana DeBose as Anita
- Josh Andrés Rivera as Chino
- Rachel Zegler as Maria
Additional casting announcements, specifically in regards to The Sharks and The Jets, will arrive in the coming weeks.
Spielberg (‘The Post,’ ‘Ready Player One’) serves as both director and producer. The screenplay is from Oscar-nominated screenwriter and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner (‘Munich,’ ‘Lincoln’). The film is an adaptation of the original 1957 Broadway musical.
As for crew, production designer Adam Stockhausen (‘Ready Player One,’ Widows’) and composer David Neman (‘Girls Trip,’ ‘Night School’) are already onboard.
Filming will begin on June 8th in New York.
2oth Century Fox (soon-to-be-Disney) has not given the film a release date yet.
Source: Deadline