Spielberg’s “West Side Story” Kicks Off Previews Thursday Night and Long Road to the Oscars with $800K

And now the long road to the Oscars begins.

Steven Spielberg’s reimagining of “West Side Story” kicked off with Thursday night previews totaling $800,000. That’s a little soft but not disappointing at all. The musical with rave reviews will play in 2,800 theaters starting tonight, about a thousand fewer than most wide releases these days.

“WSS” is a 20th Century release from “WSS” which means Disney is distributing it. So far Disney has done a pretty lousy job with 20th releases. But the pressure must be on to make “WSS” a hit. There’s a potential here for a record number of Oscar nominations. Many have praised the new edition as better than the original classic. So we should big numbers over the holidays.

Get out and see a movie this weekend. We now have “WSS” and “Belfast” in theaters. Wear a mask, big deal. Sit a seat apart from strangers. But get away from the TV set and the computer!