Woody Allen has just published a novel of humorous short stories titled “Zero Gravity.” He was promoting the book when he spoke to 'El Intermedio' via video call last week.
When questioned whether there is a real chance that the upcoming “Wasp 22” could be his last film, Allen said it was a real possibility, but mostly due to financing and the notion of “cinema” changing:
"There are two things going on. One is that it's getting harder and harder for me to ask for money to make a movie. If someone comes along and offers it to me, that would be something else, because it would give me an incentive to keep making movies.”
"The other thing that discourages me a lot is the decline of the film industry, because where I grew up you bought a ticket, you went into the cinema and there was the big screen, the lighting of the room, a warm space where you saw a great movie on that screen with wonderful people and I loved that, but now you make a movie and it ends up on television two or three weeks later.”
This topic has been raised before. How do you expect arthouse films to sustain a healthy box-office run when your audience knows those same films will be available to stream at home in just a matter of weeks? There’s something grim about a studio’s total disregard for theatrical runs in the post- pandemic era.
It also renders the theatrical experience even more obsolete by giving people the option of just not going to the cinema anymore and waiting it out for home viewing.
During these last three years, the pandemic forced studios to stream much of their new content. Many moviegoers realized just how much more comfortable, and less headache-inducing, it was to stream at home than to go to the local cineplex. You can now just stay in, save money, and not endure any of the annoyances that come with watching a movie in public — who wants someone texting and talking right next to them during a movie?
Expect “Wasp22” (working title) to have its world premiere this coming May at Cannes.
I can confirm that Joel Coen’s “Jack of Spades” is based on Frances Frederica Montrésor’s 1901 novel “The Alien: A Story of Middle Age.” It’s a ghost story. A gothic mystery.