20th Century Studios has released the official trailer for Steven Spielberg‘s highly anticipated adaptation of the 1957 musical, West Side Story.

The film explores forbidden love and the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, the filmmaker shared why he had to do this film.

Our entire home was festooned with classical musical albums, and I grew up surrounded by classical music. West Side Story was actually the first piece of popular music our family ever allowed into the home.

I absconded with it—this was the cast album from the 1957 Broadway musical—and just fell completely in love with it as a kid. 

West Side Story‘ has been that one haunting temptation that I have finally given in to.

This story is not only a product of its time, but that time has returned, and it’s returned with a kind of social fury.

I really wanted to tell that Puerto Rican, Nuyorican experience of basically the migration to this country and the struggle to make a living, and to have children, and to battle against the obstacles of xenophobia and racial prejudice.

The film, starring Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, and Ariana DeBose, is slated to open in theaters on December 10, 2021.

Watch the West Side Story trailer below.

Are you looking forward to seeing the film when it is released?

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