West Side Story (film) Brittany Snow and Drake Bell. West Side Story (film) West Side Story is a 1961 American romantic musical tragedy film directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. The film is an adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was inspired by William Shakespeare's play "Romeo and Juliet". It stars Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, and George Chakiris, and was photographed by Daniel L. Fapp, A.S.C., in Super Panavision 70. Released on October 18, 1961, through United Artists, the film received high praise from critics and viewers, and became the second highest
West Side Story (film) Wise's dazzling direction, Leonard Bernstein's score, and Stephen Sondheim's lyrics, "West Side Story" remains perhaps the most iconic of all the Shakespeare adaptations to visit the big screen." The film earned $19,645,000 in North American rentals. Because of profit participation, United Artists earned a profit of $2.5 million on the film. Its ten Academy Awards make it the musical film with the most Academy wins, including Best Picture. Three other films ("Ben-Hur", "Titanic" and "") won 11 Oscars, but they were not musical films. Awards American Film Institute lists: The film's cast appeared and was honored at the 50th anniversary