Daily Podcast: Why Did Steven Spielberg's West Side Story Underperform At The Box Office?

On the December 13, 2021 episode of /Film Daily, /Film editorial director Peter Sciretta is joined by /Film news desk writer Ryan Scott to discuss this weekend's box office, and more specifically the financial failure of Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story."

Opening Banter: Ryan introduces himself.

In The News:

• Ryan: West Side Story Box Office Is Not Music To The Film Industry's Ears

  • Ryan runs down weekend box office

  • Can award buzz save it?

  • This is not the end: (2017's "The Greatest Showman" debuted to 8.8 million, the soundtrack went trending and ended with $436 million globally)

  • Why do you think it underperformed? Why weren't people interested in this one?

    • Hannah thinks its bad marketing despite great reviews?

    • Are movie musicals on a decline? (this year "Dear Evan Hanson," "In The Heights")

    • Is it just the pandemic?

    • Older audiences

    • Are younger audiences not interested in stories about forbidden interracial romance?

  • Has Spielberg lost touch with what audiences want? ("The BFG," "Ready Player One," "Crystal Skull," "Tintin")

  • On the other side of the coin: Disney's "Encanto" came out a few weeks ago and "WSS" barely beat that this weekend. That's another musical, skewing younger and it hasn't hit big Disney numbers.

    • "Encanto" Hits Digital Just In Time For Christmas, Blu-Ray Early Next Year

Also mentioned:

• Hannah: Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story" Set To Bomb With $10.5 Million Opening Weekend

• Ryan Scott's Favorite Movies Of All Time

All the other stuff you need to know:

• You can find more about all the stories we mentioned on today's show at slashfilm.com, and linked inside the show notes.

• /Film Daily is published every weekday, bringing you the most exciting news from the world of movies and television as well as deeper dives into the great features from slashfilm.com.

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