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Looks like Woody will be shooting in London again, not NYC, this summer with Josh Brolin and Anthony Hopkins in the leads.

I'll bet a lot of money this is a drama as well.

Interesting. Can't wait to see what Brolin can do in a Woody film.

And incidentally AWA, have you heard anything about even the slightest possibility of Woody appearing in the 7th season of Curb Your Enthusiasm?

Highway 61 wrote:Interesting. Can't wait to see what Brolin can do in a Woody film.

He was quite good in his small part in Melinda & Melinda.

Indeed you're right. I completely forgot he was in that. I guess I should say that I'm looking forward to seeing Brolin continue his hot streak in the new Woody Allen film.

There's some interesting information in Mediapro's website.

The press release for the film is currently available in spanish but I've translated a very interesting yet vague description of the film:

"La película, una comedia dramática que tiene lugar en Londres, se desarrolla en torno a las intrigas románticas, anhelos sexuales y ambiciones de un grupo de personas. "

The film, a dramatic comedy that takes place in London, is about the romantic intrigues, sexual yearnings and ambitions of a group of people

As long as this is not another Scoop I'm all for it. (With Hopkins and Brolin this can't be another Scoop, right?)

Untitled Woody Allen London Project (Woody Allen, 2010)

Joining the previously announced Josh Brolin and Anthony Hopkins:

Naomi Watts joins Woody Allen pic

Shooting to start in July in London.

The girl from Slumdog is going to be in it now too. I smell the biggest distribution of his career here

domino harvey wrote:The girl from Slumdog is going to be in it now too. I smell the biggest distribution of his career here

Though I would guess that those who love Slumdog Millionaire probably don't even know what the actress' name is. The trailer will have to say "...AND THAT GIRL FROM SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE" for anyone to care.

domino harvey wrote:The girl from Slumdog is going to be in it now too. I smell the biggest distribution of his career here

As long as Woody gets the DP from Slumdog, who made Frieda Pinto look ravishing in every shot. I saw her on Leno the other day and then on the Oscars, and she was nowhere near as striking on either.

No film should ever be shot like Slumdog, what the hell

I suppose this will get moved to the specific film thread when it gets created, but this is unusual for Woody:

According to an Indian press report Frieda Pinto is getting $3 million for her role in Woody's summer 2009 London project.

Which, of course, is unheard of for a Woody film for an acting talent to be getting paid more than scale - nevermind $3million. And this all comes on the heels of Woody hiring Pinto based on the Slumdog Oscar buzz.

I'm not so keen on this... I was hoping Woody would be using the extra $8million or so budget for the next 3 films he is signed to MediaPro with for other things (period pieces, more music, more ellaborate locales / production ideas, etc).

Does anyone know of any examples when an acting talent got paid this much for a Woody role?

Knowing Woody, I'll be highly skeptical of that figure until I see it confirmed in a few publications. Then again, the bigger the budget, the harder it probably is to to ask the cast to take scale.

nsps wrote:Knowing Woody, I'll be highly skeptical of that figure until I see it confirmed in a few publications. Then again, the bigger the budget, the harder it probably is to to ask the cast to take scale.

It is possible that the report is erroneously adding an extra zero to that figure, which would be the rounded up version of scale I believe. But still - it is unlikely that the entire cast is getting more than scale for a $23m pic - certainly Hopkins, Brolin, Watts et al would all get at least equal to Pinto, which would put the budget at $15m for leading acting talent alone, which is what Woody usually has for a budget... I doubt that he would take advantage of the bigger budget to pay for the stars he wants to use in a trade off for shrinking his overall production budget by nearly half. Especially knowing how frustrated Woody has been with the rising costs of production not matching his budget, which has resulted in him making major compromises musically for his films for the last 4 films (to varying results)... which considering how important Woody's music is to his films is indeed a major compromise for him.

I suppose we'll have to see if anyone bothers to ask him about this in one of the interviews - if any journalist out there is doing their homework on what to talk to Woody about (which, sadly, is rarely ever the case), this should be one of them.

I'm also not so thrilled with the idea Woody is just jumping on the Slumdog Oscar train - especially if he's just throwing millions at a pretty face who has a little one card hot hand right now. It's usually the other way around - Woody finding young acting talents and Oscar types throwing millions at them after their appearance in a Woody film.

I would not be surprised if MediaPro forced Pinto on him not only to get a young, hot, Oscar winner into the picture, but also to give the film a marketability in Asia that previous Allen films have never had. My guess is MediaPro ok-ed the $3 million and bumped the overall budget of the film, with the knowledge that their projected box office take will now be bigger with a whole new theatrical/DVD territory to take advantage of.

AWA, what music compromises did Woody have to make in the last few films?

Very interesting about the music. Considering Woody's casting process I doubt Pinto is a stunt and if that number is right then maybe the studio has more faith in the picture with her in it.

Woody's upcoming film in London is supposedly a "serious comedy like Husbands & Wives or Manhattan".

Now there is a rumor that makes you want to believe! [-o<

Cold Bishop wrote:Nicole Kidman drops out

Unknown actress Lucy Punch gets her big break, replacing Nicole Kidman.

Now that is a name just begging to get famous

Woody has been busy filming in London:

Naomi & Antonio

Naomi & Woody

Woody, Naomi, Antonio

Freida Pinto(?)

And for those who suggest Woody's quality has declined in recent years, perhaps you can use this photo as evidence of a new theory - drinking on set!

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger. I am inexplicably reminded of Love and Death's death, although his sheets were white.

Or maybe I am thinking of Deconstructing Harry. Or Scoop. Which other Allen films had a death personification?

Well, if nothing else, the film will have a badass title.

Can we get a You Will Meet a Talk Dark Stranger thread-split already?

Brolin reveals he's playing the Woody Allen role:

NYT Mag wrote:[My role is] Woody Allen. I play a failed writer who is . . . Woody Allen. It’s funny how he gets you to do that. This is my second Woody Allen film — I worked four days in “Melinda and Melinda.” Two years ago, Woody saw me in “W.,” where I played George W. Bush, and he sent me an e-mail that I have framed, that read, basically, “I don’t know if you remember me from ‘Melinda and Melinda.’ I was the director.” I don’t know to this day whether Woody was serious or not. So he sent me this script, and I said, “I’m not going to make the mistake everyone makes and try to play you.” My first suggestion was that my character be in a wheelchair. Woody’s response to me was simply, “No.” That was it.

First still from the film:




RopeOfSilicon.com has details on the film, including comments from DP Vilmos Zsigmond:

"There were no storyboards, Woody and I spoke about how he wanted to cover each scene, and then did a rehearsal. We shot at least 98 percent of the film with one 35 mm Panavision film camera that was frequently on a Steadicam following the actors. It wasn't unusual for us to do three minute takes in one shot with Woody standing next to the camera experiencing the film the way audiences will see it."

When was the last time Woody did a film that was mostly tripod free? Husbands & Wives in '92?

The fall release date listed definitely suggests SPC is betting this will be an Oscar heavy weight. Which, while meaningless to my own appreciation of Woody's work, can only mean good things for his box office (and future funding) and an indication that this might be up to some of Woody's more recent higher standards.