Director Steven Spielberg and Rita Moreno as Valentina on the set of 20th Century Studios’ WEST SIDE STORY.
It’s been well documented that filming a new adaptation of West Side Story has been a deeply personal passion project for its producer/director, Steven Spielberg. While part of that was based on Spielberg’s memories of the original 1961 film adaptation, which he disregarded as he developed his new film, Spielberg told us the driving force behind his passion was a combination of the story’s still-timely theme, along with songs he considers to be among the best ever written for the stage or screen. (Click on the media bar below to hear Steven Spielberg)