Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story Underperforms At The Box Office

Dec 13, 2021

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On the December 13, 2021 episode of /Film Daily, /Film editorial director Peter Sciretta is joined by /Film news desk writer Ryan Scott to discuss the this weekend’s box office, and more specifically the failure of Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story.

Opening Banter: Ryan introduces himself.

In The News:

Ryan: West Side Story Box Office Is Not Music To The Film Industry's Ears
- Ryan runs down weekend box office
- Can award buzz save it?
- This is not the end: (2017’s Great Showman debuted to 8.8 million, soundtrack went trending and ended with $436 m global)
- Why do you think it underperformed? Why werent people interested in this one?
  - Hannah thinks its bad marketing despite great reviews?
  - Are movie musicals on a decline? (this year Dear Evan Hanson, In The Heights)
  - Is it just the pandemic?
  - Older audiences
  - Are younger audiences not interested in stories about forbidden Interracial romance
- Has Spielberg lost touch with what audiences want? (The BFG, Ready Player One, Crystal Skull, Tintin)
- On the other side of the coin: Disney’s Encanto came out a few weeks ago and WSS barely beat that this weekend. Thats another musical, skewing younger and it hasnt hit big disney numbers.
  - Encanto Hits Digital Just In Time For Christmas, Blu-Ray Early Next Year

Also mentioned:

All the other stuff you need to know:

You can find more about all the stories we mentioned on today’s show at slashfilm.com, and linked inside the show notes.

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