Rialto Chatter: Is Former Fifth Harmony Star Camila Cabello the WEST SIDE STORY Movie's Maria?

Ever since it was announced that iconic director Steven Spielberg would be helming a remake of the musical classic WEST SIDE STORY, speculation has run rampant attempting to dreamcast the star-crossed lovers at the center of the story.

In March, Tony winner Ben Platt shared his audition video to play Tony, and now a New York radio host is reporting that a long-running rumor will soon be confirmed, as former star of pop group Fifth Harmony, Camila Cabello, will officially be announced to play the role of Maria.

To add to the speculation, in April, about a month after Platt made his audition video public, Cabello posted a tweet that had no caption, but featured only a picture of Claire Danes in Baz Luhrmann's 1996 ROMEO + JULIET. WEST SIDE STORY is a modernization of the Shakespearean classic.

While no official casting has been announced, last month it was reported that due to INDIANA JONES 5 being pushed back by Disney, Spielberg was moving into pre-production with WEST SIDE STORY.

Tony, Emmy, and Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Kushner will pen the new screenplay. WEST SIDE STORY was written by Arthur Laurents, with music by Leonard Bernsteinand lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, inspired by William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. The dark theme, sophisticated music, extended dance scenes, and focus on social problems marked a turning point in American musical theatre. Bernstein's score for the musical includes "Something's Coming", "Maria", "America", "Somewhere", "Tonight", "Jet Song", "I Feel Pretty", "A Boy Like That", "One Hand, One Heart", "Gee, Officer Krupke", and "Cool".

The original 1957 Broadway production, conceived, directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins and produced by Robert E. Griffith and Harold Prince, marked Sondheim's Broadway debut.