Woody Allen announces retirement from filmmaking, says his next movie will be his last
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Woody Allen has announced his retirement from filmmaking.
The director, 86, told Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia he intends to retire from the movie business and dedicate more time to writing. Allen's upcoming film Wasp 22, set to begin production in Paris this fall, will be his last.
"My idea, in principle, is not to make more movies and focus on writing," the filmmaker said, noting that his next project will be a novel. As for Wasp 22, his 50th film, Allen described it as similar to his 2005 psychological thriller Match Point, in that it would be "exciting, dramatic, and also very sinister."
The controversial director, who has been shooting more in Europe as his support in the states has wavered due to abuse allegations against him, previously discussed the possibility of retiring from the movie making business. Allen sat down for an Instagram Live with Alec Baldwin in June and said "a lot of the thrill is gone" in filmmaking.
Epsilon/Getty Images Woody Allen announces retirement from filmmaking
"I'll probably make at least one more movie, but a lot of the thrill is gone because it doesn't have the whole cinema effect," Allen said. "When I started to do a film, it would go into movie houses all over the country and people would come by the hundreds to watch it in big groups on a big screen. Now you do a movie and you get a couple of weeks in a movie house — maybe six weeks, two weeks, or whatever — and then it goes right to streaming or right to Pay-Per-View."
Allen continued, "People love sitting home with their big screens and watching on their television sets, and they have good sound and clear picture, but it's not the same as when I went into the movie business. So it's not as enjoyable to me as it was. I don't get the same fun of doing a movie and putting it in a movie house."
The interview marked one of the filmmaker's most prominent public appearances since allegations of sexual abuse by his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow were re-examined amid the #MeToo movement. Farrow first accused Allen of molestation in 1992. The filmmaker, who was never convicted, has continued to deny the claims. The allegations were re-explored in the 2021 HBO docuseries Allen v. Farrow.
A rep for Allen did not immediately respond to EW's request for comment about his retirement plans.
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