Woody Allen on Why He Says ‘Romance of Filmmaking Is Gone’

Woody Allen isn’t exactly sure what he wants to do next in the movie industry, as he feels “all the romance of filmmaking is gone.”

In an interview with AirMail, published online Saturday, the director was asked about his latest film Coup de Chance, his 50th feature, and the delay it faced for release in North American markets.

“It doesn’t matter to me whether I get distributed here or not,” Allen said. “Once I make it, I don’t follow it anymore. Distribution is no longer what it was. Now distribution is two weeks in a cinema… And then that’s it. I mean, Annie Hall played in movie houses in New York for a little bit over a year. It’d be in one theater for six, seven months, and then somebody would pick it up and it would hang around another few months. The whole business has changed, and not in an appealing way. All the romance of filmmaking is gone.”

In February, The Hollywood Reporter exclusively reported that MPI Media Group would release the picture in the U.S. on April 5 and digital/VOD on April 12 following its debut at the Venice Film Festival in September 2023. This came after “samizdat” links to Coup de Chance began circulating among U.S. fans.

Allen has previously contemplated his future in filmmaking, saying in 2022 that “a lot of the thrill is gone” for him in the streaming era. And in his latest interview, he shared that he was still “on the fence about it.”

“I don’t want to have to go out to raise money. I find that a pain in the neck,” the Rainy Day in New York director said. “But if someone shows up and calls in and says we want to back the film, then I would seriously consider it. I would probably not have the willpower to say no, because I have so many ideas.”

In recent years, Allen’s popularity in the U.S. has significantly decreased amid the #MeToo movement and resurfaced allegations of sexual abuse from his adopted stepdaughter, Dylan Farrow. Allen has denied the accusations and was not charged by the Connecticut state’s attorney following a 1993 investigation.

However, the filmmaker has remained a polarizing figure, and ended up having his $68 million four-film deal with Amazon Studios canceled. Since then, he has had a difficult time finding distribution for his recent titles.

Elsewhere in his interview with AirMail, Allen was asked about the idea of being “canceled” in society.

“Someone asked me about cancel culture, and I said, ‘If you’re going to be canceled, this is the culture that you want to be canceled from,’” he added. “Because who wants to be part of this culture?”