After director Woody Allen hinted at retirement, his representative quickly walked back the director’s comment Monday morning.
Allen had previously told Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia over the weekend that he no longer intended to make movies and would instead focus on writing short stories and a novel. After news of the comment spread across the industry, Allen’s camp squashed the claim.
“Woody Allen never said he was retiring, nor did he say he was writing another novel,” Allen’s representative told Variety in a statement. “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, which will be the 50th.”
Leading up to production of his latest film “Wasp 22,” currently shooting in Paris, Allen had previously hinted at retirement, telling Alec Baldwin during an Instagram Live, “I don’t know how I feel about making movies. I’m going to make another one (this fall) and I’ll see how I feel.”
In that interview he also said the “the thrill is gone,” lamenting that films now quickly go to streaming services, even after a theater release.
“Yes, I feel I will work again in film, but I might want to turn to writing (novels and plays),” Allen said.
There have been other hints at retirement. While discussing his upcoming film with French Sunday paper Le Journal du Dimanche, Allen had said “it might be the last one,” Deadline reported in July.
Before the pandemic halted Allen’s one-a-year film directing pace, he released “Rifkin’s Festival” in 2020. The film made only $2.3 million and had poor reviews, with some calling the film his worst.
Shut in during the pandemic, Allen started writing a collection of short stories, “Zero Gravity.” The collection published earlier this year amid sexual abuse allegations highlighted in Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering’s “Allen v. Farrow.”
The Emmy-nominated four-part documentary series details Allen’s alleged predatory sexual behavior toward his daughter Dylan Farrow. Farrow accused Allen of abuse in 1992, but amid the #MeToo movement, the case was brought under new scrutiny.
Allen has denied the claim.
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