Even though the movie is the first new feature from the legendary Steven Spielberg since Ready Player One hit theaters in March 2018 and it currently boasts a 93% score and 95% user rating on Rotten Tomatoes, West Side Story has flopped fairly spectacularly at the box office.
Heading into the weekend, the forecast had the musical in with a shot at surpassing the $14 million brought in by Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci to nab the crown of highest-grossing drama since 2019, but in the end it barely made it into double figures, and that’s without even mentioning an awful $4.4 million international haul.
West Wide Story found itself delayed by an entire year due to the pandemic, and in that time top-billed star Ansel Elgort found himself making headlines for all the wrong reasons due to allegations of misconduct. As you can see from the reactions below, fans love the film, but can’t reconcile themselves with the actor’s presence.
While one person can’t be blamed for a $100 million prestige picture helmed by an all-time great tanking in theaters, it’s clear from the social media consensus that a lot of people aren’t interested in paying money to see West Side Story due to Elgort’s involvement.