Woody Allen, 89, was all prepared to shoot a new film in Italy this fall, but financing fell through, and the entire production got canceled. We now have a promising update.
Spanish outlets La Vanguardia, Rac and Tapas are reporting that Allen will now instead be shooting his next film in Barcelona. Production is set to begin next year. Has Allen just changed the setting of his story from Italy to Spain, or is it a totally different project?
Allen has reiterated, many times now, that he will continue to make films as long as someone wants to finance them. His last few projects have been European partnerships shot in France, and Spain.
Plot details and casting have yet to be revealed for this mysterious film. It’ll be interesting to see if Allen supporters, and Barcelona regulars, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz decide to tag along for this one — they previously teamed up with the filmmaker in 2008’s “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”
Allen’s last release, 2023’s “Coup de Chance,” which also happened to be his 50th film, premiered at the Venice Film Festival. It was shot entirely in French, and turned out to be one of the better efforts he’s given us these past 10 years. It was also well-received by critics, currently at 82% on Rotten Tomatoes — which easily made it his best-reviewed film since 2013’s “Blue Jasmine.”
Allen can still make good films; he hasn’t lost his sardonic wit, or talent for writing a great story. It helps that his last few projects were beautifully lensed by legendary cinematographer Vittorio Storaro. I’m looking forward to his next effort.