82-year-old filmmaker Woody Allen might be taking a “career break” from films in 2019, his first one since 1974. The veteran director has been treating his fans with at least one film every year of his career and his 48th film, Amazon’s A Rainy Day in New York awaits its release in 2018.
Call it the result of the #MeToo movement or a “creative break” after so many years, it appears that Allen does not have any new projects except one “Untitled Woody Allen Project” for 2020, as per IMDB list.
A source in Page Six stated that he might be having trouble getting a producer, “Woody loves working. He never takes a vacation. But he will be taking time off this year until he can find a backer”.
According to Guardian, Allen’s representatives denied any problem with financing the 2020 project.
In 2016, Allen signed a five-picture distribution deal with Amazon, and after 2015’s Wonder Wheel and 2018’s A Rainy Day in New York, there are technically three more movies to go. The deal was brokered by Amazon’s top executive Roy Price, who has since stepped down in October 2017 after sexual harassment allegations emerged against him. “The consensus is that Amazon will have no choice but to sever ties with the director, even if that means a hefty payout,” reported Hollywood Reporter in 2017.
Allen’s career did not get affected after his adoptive daughter, Dylan Farrow accused him of sexual harassment in 1993. Allegations against the Oscar-winning director were dropped by state prosecutors in 1993 but Farrow repeated them in an open letter in 2014, claiming he had molested her in the family home when she was seven.
Allen, who categorically denies the claims had also released a statement in January 2018, “But even though the Farrow family is cynically using the opportunity afforded by the Time’s Up movement to repeat this discredited allegation, that doesn’t make it any more true today than it was in the past. I never molested my daughter as all investigations concluded a quarter of a century ago”.
But the #MeToo movement has toppled the career of many media moghuls including Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and a growing number of actors have distanced themselves from Allen after sexual harassment allegations against him were renewed by Farrow.
Many are wondering if this might be the end of the road for Woody Allen.
(Source: Guardian)