Woody Allen is not retiring after all
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Woody Allen has no plans to retire, despite a recent report that the embattled filmmaker was vacating the director's chair.
The 86-year-old was in the midst of working on his 50th production while on location in France when he was quoted by the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia as stating he intended to step away from making films and focus more on writing. "My idea, in principle, is not to make more movies and focus on writing," he's quoted as saying.
The reveal meant that his latest venture, shot entirely in French, would be his final cinematic outing. But it now appears his statements were misinterpreted or lost in translation.
Robert Kamau/GC Images Woody Allen has no plans to retire, despite a recent report that the embattled filmmaker was vacating the director's chair
On Monday, representatives for Allen released a statement insisting that he fully intends to continue making films but that he is simply struggling to see where his work fits into the streaming landscape.
"Woody Allen never said he was retiring, not did he say he was writing another novel," the statement reads. "He said he was thinking about not making films as making films that go straight or very quickly to streaming platforms is not so enjoyable for him, as he is a great lover of the cinema experience. Currently, he has no intention of retiring and is very excited to be in Paris shooting his new movie Wasp 22, which will be the 50th."
While little is known about the milestone venture, Allen is quoted by the publication as comparing it to his dark and murderous 2005 drama Match Point, describing it as "exciting, dramatic and also very sinister."
Wasp 22 features Gina Gershon, Louis Garrel, Christoph Waltz, Wallace Shawn, and Spanish actors Elena Anaya and Sergi Lopez.
Allen appeared to hint at the possibility of retiring from the movie making business during a controversial Instagram Live with Alec Baldwin in June, in which he said "a lot of the thrill is gone" in filmmaking.
In June, Allen released his fifth book of short and humorous essays called Zero Gravity. The book is set to debut in Spain on Sept. 27.
In recent years, Allen has been working largely in Europe after allegations of sexual abuse began to resurface. In 2020, he released Rifkin's Festival at the San Sebastian Festival in Spain. The film was financed by the Spanish media company Mediapro. The film came in the wake of Amazon's decision to shelve his film A Rainy Day in New York as the accusations made by his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow made headlines. Allen sued the streaming giant for $68 million, maintaining they were in breach of their contract. The suit was later settled out of court.
In 2020, his memoir Apropos of Nothing was quietly released by Arcade publishing after Hachette dropped the memoir from its roster due to an outcry from staff members and the public alike.
Farrow has claimed for decades that Allen molested her in the attic of the home they shared with her adoptive mother Mia Farrow in 1992. Her alleged ordeal is detailed in the HBO documentary series Allen v. Farrow. The Oscar-winner continues to maintain his innocence. Farrow's account was investigated but led to no charges.
"It's so preposterous, and yet the smear has remained and they still prefer to cling to, if not the notion that I molested Dylan, then the possibility that I molested her," Allen told CBS News in 2020. "Nothing that I ever did with Dylan in my life could be misconstrued as that."
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