Steven Spielberg hasn’t quite figured out what he wants to do after Lincoln, but it might just be a remake of West Side Story, the iconic 1961 musical that won Best Picture. There’s nothing formal and nothing even signed, but Spielberg has apparently shown enough interest for Fox to start looking into it.
Fox currently has the rights to West Side Story, which was originally released by United Artists. The original film, based on the Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents musical, starred Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer. It is a Romeo and Juliet story set in New York City.
According to Deadline, Fox did have WWS locked away as something that no one could touch. But once Spielberg said he was interested, the studio pulled off the “don’t touch” tape. There are no writers involved and nothing has been signed.
The idea was also mentioned in a Hollywood Reporter story.
The reason why this is coming up today is because Stacy Snider, the co-chairman and CEO of Spielberg’s DreamWorks, could leave the studio. Her contract is up at the end of 2014 and it has been suspected that she may move to Fox. If that happens, she could bring her connections (including Spielberg of course) to Fox, which would make it easier for Spielberg to do WWS.
Spielberg isn’t signed to any immediate project at the moment. He had been interested in Robopocalypse, but that’s currently in limbo.
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