Woody Allen walks back retirement rumors

Update: It looks like the idea of Woody Allen retiring was premature, with the director issuing a statement to Deadline clarifying the issue via his representatives:

Woody Allen never said he was retiring, not did he say he was writing another novel. He said he was thinking about not making films as making films that go straight or very quickly to streaming platforms is not so enjoyable for him, as he is a great lover of the cinema experience. Currently, he has no intention of retiring and is very excited to be in Paris shooting his new movie, which will be the 50th.

Original post: Writer/director/nebbish Woody Allen has announced that he will retire after he makes his 50th film. Take that, Quentin Tarantino!

Now 86, Woody Allen revealed that his next movie, Wasp 22, will conclude his directing career, which goes back nearly six decades to 1966’s What’s Up, Tiger Lily? He instead will focus more on his writing. His most recent published work, a collection of comedy pieces titled Zero Gravity, came out in June.

Earlier this year, Woody Allen hinted at his retirement, stating that much of the luster of moviegoing was gone. “When I started, you’d do a film and it would go into…movie houses all over the country, and people would come by the hundreds to watch it…Now, you do a movie and you get a couple of weeks in a movie house…then it goes right to streaming…It’s not as enjoyable to me.”

Woody Allen’s career has undoubtedly been on the decline, at least partly due to media and public scrutiny. It seems to have accelerated after last year’s Allen v. Farrow documentary, which again put light on sexual abuse allegations against the director. Woody Allen and his wife Soon-Yi have denied its allegations, saying the documentary was a “shoddy hit piece” and “a hatchet job riddled with falsehoods.”

Woody Allen’s last film before retiring, Wasp 22, will reportedly be “a sort of poisonous romantic thriller” in the style of Match Point, his 2005 film.

Over the course of his extensive career, Woody Allen has earned a record 16 nominations for Best Original Screenplay, with three wins (another record). He also has one Best Director win, for 1977’s Annie Hall. His most recent Oscar came a decade ago for Midnight in Paris.

How do you feel about Woody Allen retiring? What are some of your favorite Woody Allen movies? Let us know in the comments below!