'West Side Story' Won't Have English Subtitles For Spanish Dialogue - Here's Why

West Side Story is already hitting theaters on Thursday evening (December 9), and there’s one thing that won’t be included in the movie – subtitles!

While the movie is mostly spoken in English, there of course will be Spanish dialogue as half of the characters are Latinx.

Director Steven Spielberg recently shared that those moments will not have English subtitles.

Find out why inside…

“I don’t know if anybody really questioned it, I don’t remember anybody saying you’ve got to subtitle it,” he told Digital Spy. “I felt that subtitling the Spanish was disrespectful to the second language of this country.”

“It would make English the dominant language because then there would be two being spoken: the English by the characters speaking and the English that would [be written] underneath the spoken Spanish words,” Steven continued. “It was out of complete respect to give dignity where dignity is earned and deserved to be given.”

If you missed it, you can listen to the full soundtrack right here!

Earlier this fall, star Rachel Zegler revealed the best advice that she got from the legendary director.