West Side Story became a global sensation when it hit Broadway in 1957. The show was both dazzling and gritty, layering a Romeo and Juliet romance between Tony and Maria over a contemporary story of street gangs, racism, and violence in the shadows of rising skyscrapers.

Steven Spielberg talks about reimagining the musical that riveted him as a child. The director released new images from his more 'authentic' remake of 'West Side Story' starring Golden Globe nominee Ansel Elgort (The Goldfinch) and newcomer Rachel Zegler as Tony and Maria. The 73-year-old filmmaker enlisted original star Rita Moreno not only to play store owner Valentina in his reimagined Romeo and Juliet-style romance but to executive produce and help enlighten his young cast. Moreno said, "Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner really wanted to right some.... should I say wrongs? Because (Robert Wise's 10-time-Oscar-winning 1961) film had a lot of things that were wrong with it, aside from the fact that it had a lot of things that were very right."

One such wrong was putting brown make-up on Caucasian actors playing the Puerto Rican Sharks gang, and the three-time Oscar winner fixed it by hiring 20 Puerto Rican actors. "They brought an authenticity. They brought themselves, and everything they believe and everything about them- they brought that to the work," Spielberg said. " I really wanted to tell that Puerto Rican, Nuyorican experience of basically the migration to this country and the struggle to make a living, and to have children, and to battle against the obstacles of xenophobia and racial prejudice."

The elaborate dance sequences for the big-screen adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical will be crafted by New York City Ballet's resident choreographer Justin Peck. The pictures were released by Vanity Fair. Have a look:

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FIRST LOOK: #WestSideStory has been Steven Spielberg's passion project decades in the making. Now, he's bringing Tony, Maria, the Jets, and the Sharks back to the big screen, along with original cast member (and Oscar winner!) Rita Moreno, who says he has done `an incredible job` of updating the story-not to mention righting wrongs from the beloved 1961 film. At the link in bio, get your exclusive look at the American classic reimagined for our time. 📸 #WestSideStoryMovie

A post shared by Vanity Fair (@vanityfair) on Mar 16, 2020 at 4:07am PDT

'West Side Story' is a forthcoming American romantic musical film directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg, with a screenplay by Tony Kushner. The film stars Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler and is an adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name by Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, which is based loosely on Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'. The film's screenplay is expected to hew more closely to the Broadway script than to the 1961 film adaptation.

Produced by Amblin Entertainment, 'West Side Story' is scheduled to be released by 20th Century Studios in the United States on December 18th, 2020.