‘I’m On the Fence About It’

In an interview with AirMail published on Saturday, Woody Allen hinted at retiring from filmmaking entirely. When asked if 2023’s “Coup de Chance” could be his final film, Allen said, “I’m 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.”

“But if someone shows up and calls in and says we want to back the film, then I would seriously consider it,” he continued. “I would probably not have the willpower to say no, because I have so many ideas.”

Allen also decried the process of film distribution in the United States in 2024. “It doesn’t matter to me whether I get distributed here or not,” he explained. “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.”

Distribution isn’t the only factor apparently driving Allen from making more movies. He lamented that some directors “love the whole business of making movies, choosing the costumes and working with actors” but clarified that he’s not one of them.

Allen also repeated comments he’s made about cancel culture. In reference to an interview at last year’s Venice Film Festival, he explained, “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.’ Because who wants to be part of this culture?”

In 2023, Allen also hinted at retirement. After the release of “Coup de Chance,” he told Variety, “I was thinking this is my 50th film and I have to decide if I want to make more films.”

Though the director insisted that he’s not concerned about distribution in the United States, it’s also true that it’s not easy for his films to get picked up anymore. In 2021, a producer speaking on condition of anonymity told TheWrap, “There is no chance any studio is going to work with him. No legit company is going to touch him — he is going to have to work with European financiers for the rest of his life.”