Tonight was not only for honoring the films of last year, but to promote what many are expecting will be the Oscar contenders of next year. A new trailer for Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story ran during the telecast (which was full of cast from the film), revealing his snappy remake of the Broadway sensation and classic 1961 movie.
The irony about debuting this trailer during tonight’s Oscars, one that has been scaled back because of the pandemic, is that under normal circumstances West Side Story would likely have been a nominee. But the film has been delayed by 20th Century Studios for nearly a year, and will drop this holiday season.
A story of young love and gang warfare in 1957 New York, the song and dance drama stars Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, David Alvarez, Ariana DeBose, Mike Faist, Corey Stoll, Brian d’Arcy James, Curtiss Cook, Ezra Menas, Ben Cook, Sean Harrison Jones, Patrick Higgins, Josh Andrés Rivera, Julius Anthony Rubio, Maddie Ziegler, and Ana Isabelle. Rita Moreno who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Anita in the 1961 film, returns for this one and was also a presenter tonight.
West Side Story opens on December 10th.