Hollywood: ‘West Side Story’ falls flat at box office with disappointing $10 million debut – Gulf Digital News

  • Date: 13-Dec-2021
  • Source: Gulf Digital News
  • Sector:Technology
  • Country:Gulf
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Hollywood: ‘West Side Story’ falls flat at box office with disappointing $10 million debut – Gulf Digital News





LOS ANGELES - Audiences didn't open their wallets to see the infamous rivalry between the Sharks and the Jets play out on the big screen.

"West Side Story," Steven Spielberg's remake of the classic musical, fell flat in its box office debut, collecting a paltry $10.5 million from 2,820 theatres. That's cause for concern because Disney and 20th Century Studios spent $100 million to revive the Shakespearean love story for modern times and stand to lose millions, unless "West Side Story" endures at the box office through the holidays and Oscar season.

It may be possible to attract moviegoers between Christmas and New Years, but it's a bad start for one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year -- and one that opened exclusively in theatres. Though every new movie musical has struggled to entice audiences in Covid times, it's worrisome for both theatre operators and traditional studios that "West Side Story" -- one of the most beloved stories in musical theatre history and under the direction of Hollywood's most commercially successful filmmaker -- sold fewer tickets than "In the Heights" ($11.5 million debut), a lesser known song-and-dance property that premiered simultaneously on HBO Max. "West Side Story" at