First Look: Ariana DeBose as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s ‘West Side Story’

20th Century Fox and The Walt Disney Studios have shared the first image of Ariana DeBose as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s remake of the 10-time Academy Award-winning film West Side Story.

An adaptation of the original Broadway musical, West Side Story explores young love and tensions between rival gangs the Jets and the Sharks on the streets of 1957 New York. The cast also includes Ansel Elgort (Tony); Rachel Zegler (Maria); Ana Isabelle (Rosalia); Corey Stoll (Lieutenant Schrank); Brian d’Arcy James (Officer Krupke); Curtiss Cook (Abe) and Academy Award®-winner Rita Moreno (Anita in the 1961 film), who plays Valentina and also serves as one of the film’s Executive Producers. The film is now in production for 20th Century Fox and The Walt Disney Studios. 

West Side Story is produced and directed by Steven Spielberg from a script by Academy Award®-nominated screenwriter and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner. The film has been adapted for the screen from the original 1957 Broadway musical, which was written by Arthur Laurents with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and concept, direction and choreography by Jerome Robbins. Tony Award®-winner Justin Peck will choreograph the musical numbers in the film. Also leading the production are Tony Award®-winning producer Kevin McCollum and Academy Award®-nominated producer Kristie Macosko Krieger. 

The film’s music team includes renowned conductor Gustavo Dudamel, who will helm the recording of Bernstein’s iconic score; Academy Award®-nominated composer and conductor David Newman (Anastasia) who will be arranging the score for the new adaptation; Tony Award®-winning composer Jeanine Tesori (Broadway’s Fun Home and Thoroughly Modern Millie), who will be working with the cast on vocals; and Grammy®-nominated music supervisor Matt Sullivan (Beauty and the Beast, Chicago), who will serve as executive music producer for the film.

West Side Story will be released by 20th Century Fox and The Walt Disney Studios on December 18, 2020.