Everything There Is to Know About Woody Allens Next Movie

On Tuesday, Spanish production company Mediapro announced that Woody Allens upcoming movie (using the production title WASP2019) had officially been cast. The actors who have signed up thus far include Wallace Shawn, Gina Gershon, Christoph Waltz, Sergi López, Louis Garrel, and Elena Anaya. In its announcement, Mediapro, which has produced past Allen films like Midnight in Paris, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, and Vicky Cristina Barcelona, touted its 14-year history with the Oscar-winning writer-director.

This is Allens first film since the rise of the #MeToo movement in late 2017, which saw his estranged daughter, Dylan Farrow, renew her claims that Allen sexually molested her as a child. Allen, who was not criminally charged, repeatedly denied the allegations (though the handling of the criminal case has been questioned in the following years). He has also been publicly supported by his son Moses and his wife, Soon-Yi Previn.

In the time since #MeToo, several high-profile former Allen collaborators, such as Natalie Portman, Colin Firth, and Ellen Page, have spoken out against Allen, with some swearing off future work in his films. Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Hall, and Griffin Newman, all of whom starred in Allens 2017 film, A Rainy Day in New York, donated their salaries to nonprofit organizations like RAINN and Times Up. Amazon, which produced Rainy Day, delayed the films release date before finally shelving it for good and severing its ties with the director, with whom the studio had a four-picture contract. Allen is currently embroiled in a reported $68 million lawsuit against the company.

But the entertainment industry has not rebuked Allen in lockstep, and hes found artistic support overseas, particularly in Europe. After Amazon distanced itself from him, a distributor in Italy picked up Rainy Day, setting it for an October 3 opening. Distributors also have deals to release the film in China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, and Germany. In addition Allen will go on a musical tour in Europe with the Eddy Davis New Orleans Jazz Band, a group hes played clarinet in for several decades.

His newest film will be shot abroad as well: in San Sebastian, specifically, and set at the citys annual film festival. Per Mediapros release, the romantic comedy will follow an American couple who attend the festival and “get caught up in the magic of the festival, the beauty and charm of Spain, and the fantasy of movies.” The plot follows along as the wife has an affair with a French movie director, while her husband has an affair with a local Spanish woman. Reps for the festival told Vanity Fair that it was Allens decision to set the film at the event. “The Festival was told when they were already working on the production,” a spokesperson said. “They asked us for permission to use the image of the Festival and we are collaborating with the company on this issue.” Reps for the Spanish tourism board as well as Mediapro have not yet responded to V.F.s requests for comment about the potential promotional elements of the film.

It follows, then, that the cast for Allens upcoming movie would consist mostly of European actors—such as Garrel, a prominent French star, and Waltz, the Oscar-winning German-Austrian actor. As for the American actors, it is perhaps notable that both Shawn and Gershon are established performers, not the sort of up-and-comers whose reputations might be damaged by associating with Allen. Chalamet, for example, distanced himself from Rainy Day around the same time he began garnering Oscar buzz for Call Me by Your Name in 2017—a sign that continued affiliation with Allen ran the risk of hurting his rising leading man status.

Shawn has starred in a handful of Allen projects over the years; his very first film role ever was in Allens 1979 film, Manhattan. Hes been in Allen projects including Shadows and Fog, Radio Days, and Melinda and Melinda. The actor has stuck by Allen even as the directors reputation began to unravel around 2014, when Farrow wrote her first open letter about Allens alleged sexual misconduct. Less than a week after Farrows 2014 piece was published, Allen defended himself in a New York Times op-ed. Just over a week after that, Shawn wrote an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times defending Allen. The actor-writer, who clarified that though he and Allen had worked together for years, they were not necessarily close, lamented the internets decision to assume the filmmakers guilt in the Farrow case. He did not mention Farrow by name.

“Ive never become a friend of Woody Allen or even had any terribly lengthy conversations with him, but Ive been in his orbit enough so that I cant possibly see him as the abstract, weird cardboard fantasy figure that one reads about,” Shawn wrote. “In fact, like so many of those who have worked with him repeatedly over the decades, Ive found him to be not merely thoughtful, serious, and honest, but extraordinary and even inspiring in his thoughtfulness, seriousness, and honesty.… I personally would have to say that it would take overwhelming evidence to convince me that he had sexually abused a child, just as it would take overwhelming evidence to convince me that Desmond Tutu, Franklin D. Roosevelt, or Doris Lessing had sexually abused a child.”

WASP2019s filming will begin on July 10 and run until August 23. It does not yet have a set release date.

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