Just because his latest release, Match Point,
is getting great reviews, ending up on top ten lists and was nominated
for a bunch of Golden Globes doesn’t mean that Woody Allen is going to
be making movies in America any time soon. Match Point was the first Woody movie made entirely overseas; Scoop, his next film, was also shot in England. Now Woody is moving over the English Channel to make a movie in Spain.
Spanish production company Mediapro has put up the money to have Woody
shoot a movie there in 2007, in English, with a Spanish and
international cast. "I’m delighted at being able to work with Mediapro and make a film in Spain, a country which has become so special to me,"
said Woody. He’s been over to España a bunch lately, both for pleasure
and playing with his New Orleans Jazz Band (check out the excellent
documentary Wild Man Blues to get a look at Woody and the band on
tour), and he premiered Melinda and Melinda there.
It’s a good investment – Match Point is still in Spain’s top ten after eight weeks of release. It’s actually made money comparable to films like Hitch and The Island.
Sadly, it’ll probably make about the same amount of money here in the
United States. It’s why Woody’s had to go overseas – his movies just
aren’t appreciated by American audiences, so American investors don’t
want to touch him anymore.
The Spanish film won’t be the next for Woody after Scoop
(I don’t even know if that one has a US distributor for sure) – he’ll
be making another movie in the UK this year. At the rate Woody is
filming these movies, he may have a backlog to release after his death
– which he expects to be in his 90s, judging by his parents’ longevity.
At a movie a year, that could mean 20 more Woody Allen films yet await
us.