Woody Allen’s New Film Is A Comedy-Romance Starring Christoph Waltz — First Plot Details

Zack Sharf

Woody Allen is set to kick off production on his next movie in Spain this July with a cast that includes two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz, Gina Gershon, Louis Garrel, Sergi Lopez, and “The Skin I Live In” favorite Elena Anaya. Wallace Shawn is also set to appear, reuniting with Allen after a small turn in the director’s “Manhattan.” Per Deadline, the film will shoot in Spain under the working title “Wasp 2019.” Gravier Productions and Mediapro, the Spanish producing partner behind “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” and “Midnight In Paris,” are on board.

Allen’s new movie centers around a married American couple who travel to the San Sebastian Film Festival and get caught up in the beauty of the Spanish city and the fantasy of the movies playing at the event. The wife begins an affair with a French movie director while the husband falls in love with a beautiful Spanish woman who is a San Sebastian local. The film is being described as “a comedy-romance that resolves itself in a funny but romantic way.”

Mediapro founding partner Jaume Roures said in a statement, “We’ve been working with Woody Allen for 14 years. His films, like every project the group produces, have a unique personality. This latest movie has all the ingredients to be right up there along with what we’ve become accustomed to from a director of Woody Allen’s talent: an intelligent script and a first-rate international cast. In addition, we’re delighted to be able to shoot the movie in a city such as San Sebastian, which has such strong ties to cinema.”

The announcement of Allen’s new film comes on the heels of the director self-releasing the trailer for his still unreleased project “A Rainy Day in New York,” starring Elle Fanning, Selena Gomez, and Timothée Chalamet. Amazon was originally going to release the movie but shelved the title indefinitely because of allegations of child molestation made against Allen by his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow. The decades-old claims resurfaced in January 2018 at the height of the #MeToo movement. Amazon recently returned the rights to “Rainy Day” back to Allen.

Waltz is easily the headlining name in Allen’s new cast. The actor most recently appeared in “Alita: Battle Angel” and filmed a small supporting role in Wes Anderon’s new movie, “The French Dispatch.” Waltz has won two supporting actor Oscars for starring in Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” and “Django Unchained.”

Production on Allen’s new movie begins in July. IndieWire has reached out to Mediopro and San Sebastian Film Festival representatives for further comment.

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