A West Side Story teaser trailer has been revealed by Disney for Steven Spielberg’s remake of the classic movie

The original stage show and film West Side Story is regarded as both a classic and (by some) as a pinnacle. It’s hard to imagine a more powerful telling of the story, though of course it will benefit from the most up to date camera techniques and sound. We are expecting a lot of discussion of relative merits when the film is released (December 10 in US cinemas), and we were intrigued to see this first West Side Story teaser trailer.

If you aren’t aware, the story is Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet set in 1957 New York, amid gang rivalry and violence [territory John Travolta would later explore in the equally classic Saturday Night Fever twenty years later]. The new version stars Ansel Elgort (Tony); Rachel Zegler (María); Ariana DeBose (Anita); David Alvarez (Bernardo); Mike Faist (Riff); Josh Andrés Rivera (Chino); Ana Isabelle (Rosalía); Corey Stoll (Lieutenant Schrank); Brian d’Arcy James (Officer Krupke); and Rita Moreno (as Valentina, who owns the corner store in which Tony works).

The film has been adapted for the screen from the original 1957 Broadway show, with book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and concept, direction and choreography by Jerome Robbins. You can watch the (first) West Side Story teaser trailer now.