Steven Spielberg talks about filming his first musical 'West Side Story'
CHICAGO - Legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg is stepping behind the camera to direct his first musical, a new vision of "West Side Story" – and FOX 32 Entertainment Reporter Jake Hamilton had the chance to sit down and talk with him about it.
The director of such classics as "Jaws," "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Jurassic Park" has been wanting to make his version of the iconic musical for decades, and has finally made his dream come true – and early buzz and positive reviews seem to indicate that the beloved filmmaker is on his way to the 12th Best Picture nominee of his career.
Jake Hamilton spoke with Spielberg about his long career of cinematic classics – and wanted to know what he learned on action set pieces in films like "Jaws" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark" that he used for the big song and dance numbers of "West Side Story."
"I wish there was some similarity between the storming of the beaches in ‘Saving Private Ryan,’ Omaha Beach, and the dance in the gym…but there is a remarkable distinction between the two," Spielberg said. "I’m not constrained in an action sequence by time, by tempe, by the mathematics of music."
Spielberg added, "On a musical sequence, we are all locked in to the measure, to the beat, to the tempe. It’s got to end exactly where it ends, it can only begin only where it can begin."
"West Side Story" hits theaters on Friday.