Finally hitting Netflix this week, the road to Maestro has indeed been a long one. The biographical drama which tells the story of the great composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein was originally meant to be helmed by Martin Scorsese. However, choosing instead to focus on his gangster epic The Irishman, Scorsese stepped down and the project soon landed in the hands of none other than Steven Spielberg. Given that at the time he was working on his version of West Side Story, which features music by Bernstein, it just "made sense" as Spielberg’s producing partner Kristie Macosko Krieger tells 12DOVE.
The wheels were set in motion with Bradley Cooper being cast in the role of Bernstein, but once again plans started to stall when it became clear that Spielberg may not have time to direct the movie. Not wanting to see Maestro hitting the brakes again, Cooper gave Spielberg’s team a call, inviting them to watch an early cut of his directorial debut A Star is Born.
And as Macosko Krieger explains to GR+, that screening changed everything for the Bernstein project: "Bradley said 'I’ve made a film called A Star is Born which is currently in post-production'. He invited us to watch it and 20 minutes in, Steven leant over to Bradley and said 'You are directing this fucking movie'."
If you have seen A Star is Born, you will understand just why Spielberg said this.
Cooper agreed, but he wanted to start over, as Macosko Krieger explains: "He didn’t want to make a standard biopic – he wanted to go deeper and decided that focusing on the marriage [between Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre] would be the best way to tell this story. He was exactly right and the film 100% landed in the right hands."
The Bernstein family agree that whilst both Scorsese and Spielberg were originally due to direct the film, Cooper was ultimately the right choice. Leonard’s daughter Nina told us that it was "an honor" to work alongside the director, who continually consulted with the family during the whole process. Her sister Jamie adds: "He really changed the project when he came on, reinventing it, telling the story as a portrait of a marriage, which appealed to us as it was so much more personal, warm, and human."
From their perspective then, things certainly worked out for the best.
Maestro is currently showing in select cinemas, ahead of its release on Netflix on 20th December. For more from our interviews, read the Maestro producer's response to the controversy over Carey Mulligan's casting and an exciting update for the upcoming Bullitt reboot.
Looking for more great films on the platform, check out our recommendations of the best Netflix movies you should add to your watch list.
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