‘West Side Story’ - Box Office Flop
The reasons for low theater turnout for Spielberg’s most recent film.
Steven Spielberg’s ‘West Side Story’ was quite literally a box office flop. The story is well known, the film is brilliantly made (and has great reviews), and Spielberg is known for bringing box office hits. The problem was that too few people went to see it. Contrary to what some have said of the low turnout, I think the flop is not entirely due to the pandemic - in fact, I think even during the pandemic it should have done so much better at the box office.
Peggy Noonan recalled in The Wall Street Journal that the theater was only 10% full when she saw the film and the audience was skewed over 50. It makes sense that the audience is skewed older because the typical target audience for musicals is older, the original film was released in 1961, and many of Spielberg’s best films were made in the 80s and 90s. ‘West Side Story’ generally caters to an older audience, but it still has had a lack of theater turnout among all ages.
Peggy argued that this was due to a move towards streaming and that people aren’t rushing to the theaters at this point in the pandemic - especially for musicals as opposed to superhero and action movies like ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’. While I agree with her point that the reason for the low turnout among older generations is related to them being more vulnerable to COVID-19 along with a concern that a modern remake may ruin a classic, I don’t think this reasoning necessarily applies as well to Gen-Z and Millennials. She didn’t take into account the reasons why Spielberg’s adaptation of ‘West Side Story’ might not be appealing to these generations.
She mentioned that no one has ever heard of the stars, but Gen-Z and Millennials know Ansel Elgort well from mid-2010s movies like ‘Divergent’, ‘The Fault in Our Stars’, and ‘Baby Driver’. The problem is that he had several sexual assault allegations against him back in 2019. This was big news among these generations who had loved his films and it has obviously since affected his reputation. It was fairly recent and not much has come to light in terms of repercussions for Elgort, so many don’t feel comfortable seeing or supporting a film with him in it.
It’s important for filmmakers to take into account the reputations of actors and directors when making and promoting films. This kind of talent is what often drives people to theaters, especially young generations in this case, as the story caters more to older generations. It’s possible that the allegations could have come to light after the film had been shot, but if they had not, I think it would have been better for Spielberg to cast someone else. Jordan Fischer, Ryan McCartan, and Colton Ryan are all rising Broadway stars who I think would have done well as Tony.
In addition, I think ‘West Side Story’ lacked in its marketing campaign. It felt as though there was not enough promotion until a few weeks before its theatrical release, so many didn’t even know about it. This was likely due to hesitation to promote Elgort’s role in the film.