West Side Story (2021) age rating, UK release date and parents guide

Everything might be free in America, but you’re probably wondering when the West Side Story (2021) UK release date is with the trailer doing the rounds. The details are all below, including the latest on the age rating, parents guide notes, story, cast and run time to give you everything you need to know about Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the Broadway musical hit.

It’s essentially, a 1950s Americana take on William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliette with the lead protagonists being Tony and Maria, who’s families have links with rival gangs. The Sharks and the Jets face off in the heart of down town New York with danger beneath their dancing shoes and penchant for randomly breaking into song.

The star crossed lovers catch a glance of each other at a dance, but with the rivalry running the streets, tragedy is never too far away. It’s the second big screen adaptation of West Side Story, following on from the excellent 1961 film directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, which won 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, so the 2021 Steven Spielberg adaptation has got a lot to live up to.

Cast

The production has gone with a whole lot of new faces for the cast with Ansel Elgort (Paper Towns, Baby Driver) being the biggest name in the list. He stars alongside Rachel Zegler as Maria, Ariana DeBose as Anita, David Alvarez as Bernardo and Mike Faist as Riff. They’re joined by Corey Stoll (Ant-Man, Black Mass, The Many Saints of Newark) as Lieutenant Schrank.

We’ll update things here with more details about the cast as they’re confirmed.

West Side Story (2021) release date UK

The West Side Story (2021) release date (UK) has had a number of reschedules due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has now been confirmed for Friday the 10th December 2021. It’ll be out on the same date in the US, Canada , but seeing as the story is so well know, you probably don’t need to worry about finding anything out anyway.

There are no other new films coming out on the same weekend, which puts it in a very good position to take the number 1 spot at the box office. It’ll have House of Gucci and Encanto to compete with following their release on the 26th November, but that’s more than enough time to leave West Side Story to storm the board. However, with Spider-Man No Way Home out a week later it probably won’t be a long run.

With the arrival on the big screen in December 2021, it should come out on DVD, Blu-ray and digital in the UK in April 2022. However, there’s no word as of yet in terms of when it will be streaming.

If you’re looking to support the site, follow us on Twitter to see more news and updates on upcoming films.

You can also see more on the film in the run up to the release with the official Universal Pictures Twitter page at https://twitter.com/20thcentury.

UK age rating and parents guide

The official UK age rating for West Side Story (2021) has now been announced by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) with the release date coming up, and it’s been given a 12A certification. We were already able to take a lot from the trailer and the 1961 film, which was given a PG certificate, but live action films rarely get that nowadays, especially ones with an ending like WSS.

RELATED:
Ghostbusters Frozen Empire age rating and release date latest

All of the singing and dancing probably won’t be enough to change that, so it would have been a surprised if it had come out with anything other than a 12 rating. There are exceptions, like the Disney live action The Lion King and Aladdin, which both picked up PGs, but it comes back to the high likelihood of a well choreographed knife fight. The parents guide notes for 2021 release include mild violence, discrimination, sexual threat and language.

We’ll update you with more details on the age rating and certification for the film as they get confirmed. You can also check out our movie news section to keep tabs on the latest upcoming films, or visit the 20th Century Studios website at https://www.20thcenturystudios.com/.

Runtime

The runtime for West Side Story has also been confirmed and it comes in a 2 hours and 36 minutes, which is just a little more than the original film, which clocked in at 2 hours and 32 minutes, so the 2021 version is even more of a beast.