Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg, who is attached to the film, revealed the news in a lengthy interview with The Hollywood Reporter. The remake of the film, based on the Broadway musical of the same title, has been a dream of Spielberg's for decades. He has secured the rights to the property, although no timetable has been announced for the Fox/MGM production.
Kushner penned the script for the Spielberg-directed Lincoln, and is currently adapting the screenplay of August Wilson's Pulitzer-winning drama Fences. He won Tony Awards for both parts of Angels in America.
West Side Story, the classic film musical directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, is loosely based on William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and features music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a screenplay by Ernest Lehman based on the libretto by Arthur Laurents. It includes such songs as “I Feel Pretty,” “America,” “Something's Coming” and “Maria.”
West Side Story stars Natalie Wood as Maria (with vocal dubbing by Marni Nixon), Richard Beymer as Tony (with vocal dubbing by Jimmy Bryant), Russ Tamblyn as Riff, Rita Moreno as Anita and George Chakiris as Bernardo.
