Over the weekend, Woody Allen made headlines after a Spanish media outlet published an interview that seemed to have the filmmaker announce his retirement after the completion of his upcoming 50th feature. In addition, Allen seemingly announced that he would write a novel after he put a bow on his filmmaking career. Now, just a day later, the filmmaker is walking back those comments and claiming he never said such things.
READ MORE: Woody Allen Says He Will Retire After His 50th & Next Film, ‘Wasp 22’
However, in a new statement (via Deadline), it’s clear the filmmaker doesn’t have any plans on retiring at this moment:
“Woody Allen never said he was retiring, not did he say he was writing another novel. 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.”
Interestingly, you can see that Allen is a bit frustrated with the current state of film distribution, especially when it comes to his own projects. Obviously, he’s far from the only filmmaker watching his features get sent straight to streaming or after a small theatrical run. Gone are the days of long theatrical releases for lower-budgeted dramas and comedies. So, even if Allen is claiming that he’s not ready to officially retire, you have to wonder how much longer the filmmaker will continue to create features if he’s unhappy with how they’re released.
Let’s not forget the fact that Allen is still a bit of persona non grata when it comes to Hollywood studios after allegations of sexual abuse against a child continue to haunt him for decades. The result of this has seen the filmmaker retreat to Europe for the production of his most recent features, including his upcoming French film tentatively titled “Wasp 22.”
All that to say, whether or not Allen is ready to retire now, it’s unclear how much longer he’ll be making films, as the studio system has abandoned him and he’s unhappy with how films are being distributed in 2022. Even if he doesn’t want to announce his retirement just yet, it woud appear the end is coming for Woody Allen’s long career.