Fresh off a bevy of Oscar nominations, Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” is now officially coming to Disney+ and HBO Max in March. Disney announced Wednesday morning that the critically acclaimed musical will be streaming on Disney+ on March 2 in the U.S. and international countries, and it’ll also be streaming on HBO Max the same day, bringing the film to an even wider audience.
In addition to the streaming news, the ABC one-hour special “Something’s Coming: West Side Story – A Special Edition of 20/20” is available to stream right now on Disney+.
The film will launch in Taiwan on March 9 and Japan on March 30 on Disney+.
Spielberg’s musical update opened exclusively in theaters in December and earned immediate acclaim, but has thus far struggled to find an audience at the box office as the Omicron variant tamped down holiday theatergoing for anything not called “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” Many were wondering when “West Side Story” would come to streaming given that it’s a 20th Century Studios film (which is of course owned by Disney), and now we have our answer.
Additional 20th Century Studios films released exclusively in theaters last year are making streaming debuts in the coming months: “The Last Duel” landed on HBO Max in January, “Free Guy” is coming to HBO Max and Disney+ at the end of February and this month will also see “The King’s Man” hit Hulu. The simultaneous release on HBO Max and Disney+ for “West Side Story” is a product of an existing deal between Fox and Warner Bros. that extends through 2022, and similarly saw Guillermo del Toro’s Best Picture-nominated “Nightmare Alley” come to both streaming services at the beginning of February.
The streaming debut of “West Side Story” positions the film well for Oscar voting, as it racked up Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress for Ariana DeBose and many more.
Directed by Spielberg, from a screenplay by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Tony Kushner, “West Side Story” tells the classic tale of fierce rivalries and young love in 1957 New York City. This reimagining of the beloved musical stars Ansel Elgort (Tony); Ariana DeBose (Anita); David Alvarez (Bernardo); Mike Faist (Riff); Brian d’Arcy James (Officer Krupke); Corey Stoll (Lieutenant Schrank); Josh Andrés Rivera (Chino); with Rita Moreno (as Valentina, who owns the corner store in which Tony works); and introducing Rachel Zegler (Maria.) Moreno – one of only three artists to be honored with Academy, Emmy, GRAMMY, Tony and Peabody Awards – also serves as one of the film’s executive producers.
