Over the previous twenty years, Woody Allen has delivered a string of cinematic love letters to Europe — from Barcelona to Rome to Paris — a few of them carrying the shiny attract of vacationer postcards. His late-career concentrate on Europe intensified after his already divisive profile in Hollywood took a success when longstanding sexual abuse allegations resurfaced in the course of the #MeToo period.
His subsequent movie is taking his European sojourn one step additional: Scheduled to shoot from Oct. 5 in Madrid, the still-untitled venture is being backed by hundreds of thousands in public funding tied explicitly to showcasing the Spanish capital on display screen.
The forged and plot have but to be introduced, although the Spanish press has already begun speculating about whether or not Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem, who’re primarily based in Madrid (and likewise star collectively in Florian Zeller’s Venice-bound psychological thriller “Bunker”), may seem in or star within the film. Each are longtime Allen collaborators and beforehand starred in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” which gained Cruz the Oscar for supporting actress.
What is understood, unusually early for an Allen movie, is a substantial quantity about its Madrid connection, financing and exhibition necessities.
Some €3 million ($3.5 million) — $2.9 million after VAT deductions — is coming by means of grants from the Madrid Regional Authorities, introduced final October, and Madrid Metropolis Council, made public in December.
Constructing on that base, Allen’s subsequent movie can intention to lift an extra €4 million in Spain by means of a mixture of tax credit ($2.3 million), a grant from Spanish movie company ICAA ($1.1 million) and a first-window TV prebuy ($1.1 million). That might nonetheless depart some $5.8 million to $7 million to be raised from worldwide gross sales, a substantial problem. With out the Madrid grants, nevertheless, Allen’s new movie would most likely not be made in any respect.
That public cash comes with strings hooked up. What’s putting is how explicitly these circumstances have been laid out for a filmmaker who has lengthy prized whole inventive freedom and has mentioned there may be no humor with out freedom of expression.
Allen, as an example, habitually settles on the title of his motion pictures solely after he has completed enhancing. Below the phrases of the settlement with the Madrid Regional Authorities, his subsequent movie will as a substitute have to incorporate the phrase “Madrid.”
Full financing can also be contingent on the movie premiering at a world pageant. Venice may very well be an choice — the pageant, led by Alberto Barbera, will not be shy in relation to courting controversy. The fest premiered Allen’s newest movie “Coup de Likelihood” in 2023, the identical yr it performed Roman Polanski’s “The Palace.”
Madrid Metropolis Council additionally mentioned in December that “not less than 15% of the movie’s scenes will probably be shot in exteriors, making the town simply recognizable, displaying its cultural, architectural and historic sides.”
Provisionally titled “WASP 2026″ — quick for “Woody Allen Spring Undertaking 2026” — the movie is produced by veteran Spanish production-distribution outfit Wanda Imaginative and prescient, Allen’s New York-based Gravier Productions and Puerto Rico-headquartered 3SIX9 Studios.
Pre-production and manufacturing will happen in Madrid, whereas post-production will probably be cut up between Madrid and New York, Madrid Metropolis Council mentioned when confirming its backing in December.
Welcome to the brand new period of display screen tourism: Madrid Metropolis Council estimates that 79% of the movie’s whole $11.4 million funding will probably be spent within the metropolis, producing 1,196 direct jobs and a couple of,293 oblique jobs.
Past the quick financial influence, display screen tourism is estimated to drive some 100 million visits worldwide, with the sector projected to be value greater than $142 billion by 2032.
Madrid’s guess on Allen can also be rising in scale. The general public backing for his subsequent movie is twice the €1.5 million contributed by Catalonia’s regional authorities and Barcelona Metropolis Council to 2008’s “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”
Allen has lengthy constructed movies round European cities. In Italy, he made “To Rome With Love” with Medusa, which absolutely financed the 2012 movie. The film, which had a reported price range of roughly $17 million and was shot fully in Rome, additionally tapped native Lazio incentives. However its financing was not tied to the title.
As reported on the time by Selection, Allen initially meant to name the movie both “Bop Decameron” or “Nero Fiddled.” He and Sony Photos Classics finally determined each titles have been too obscure and settled on “To Rome With Love” as a homage to the town. The movie, starring Allen, Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, Cruz, Judy Davis, Jesse Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig and Elliot Web page, went on to gross greater than $73 million worldwide, together with roughly $10 million in Italy, the place it opened on 600 screens.
Extra lately, Allen’s French-language “Coup de Likelihood,” which had a $17.5 million price range, tapped into France’s worldwide tax credit score, which now gives a 30% rebate on eligible spending within the nation. The movie spent about €7.5 million in France over 33 capturing days within the Paris area.
Allen was, in actual fact, among the many high-profile filmmakers who pushed France to make itself extra enticing to worldwide productions. In 2008, he met then-Tradition Minister Christine Albanel in Paris as the federal government was making ready to introduce a brand new tax incentive for international shoots. He advised Le Monde that he had thought of making a film in France a number of years earlier however deserted the concept for monetary causes.
“I’ve all the time been in love with Paris. Prior to now, I had a script all prepared, however the monetary circumstances didn’t permit me to make it occur,” Allen advised Le Monde on the time.
France subsequently launched its first devoted tax credit score for worldwide productions, initially masking 20% of eligible spending within the nation.
Whereas information of the Madrid film’s manufacturing begin date has leaked within the press, the plot and forged nonetheless stay beneath tight wraps, and key distributors who labored on “Coup de Likelihood” haven’t but been approached.
“We might hear about it nearer to the AFM, however in any case Woody Allen all the time likes to maintain the script and different particulars confidential till the final minute,” says one trade insider.
