In what cinema buffs predict will be the box office blockbuster of 2023, Steven Spielberg has agreed to direct “Maria’s Son,” in which Maria, the radiant ingenue of “West Side Story,” gives birth to Tony, Jr., the offspring of her single night of passion with Tony, her doomed gringo boyfriend. Tony, Jr. will grow up to become Spider-Man.
When he reaches his teen years, Tony, Jr. battles the Jets and Sharks, who are still terrorizing New York City. Rita Moreno will return in the new role of Señora Tornado, the brutal leader of an international cartel that supplies the gangs with drugs and is determined to annihilate Spidey. Moreno says this is the “role of a lifetime” for her. “I get to wear skintight leather pants, a nail-studded vest, stiletto heels, and carry a Colt AR-15. I also have a nude scene with Bernard Cumberbatch, who plays the cartel’s accountant. What’s not to love?”
Production on “Maria’s Son” will begin in the summer of 2022. Tony Kushner is currently finalizing the screenplay.