Woody Allen retires from filmmaking at 86, and says Wasp 22 will be his last one

Woody Allen announced that he would be retiring from filmmaking after the release of his next. The 86-year-old director stated that he intends for this to be his final project, and it will go into production soon.

In an interview with La Vanguardia ahead of Wasp 22, to be filmed in Europe, Allen said, “My idea, in principle, is not to make more movies and focus on writing.”

He added that his next project would be a novel. Allen has already talked about taking a break from the film industry. He stated that was trying to make “one or two more” movies during a chat with Alec Baldwin that was live-streamed on Instagram in June, but also claimed that “the thrill is gone”, as a result of the collapse of the theatrical experience.

In his long career, Allen has received a record-breaking 16 Oscar nominations for Best Screenplay. He has won four Academy Awards, including one for Best Director for Annie Hall (1977). Despite his success, he has always been noted for shunning award ceremonies.

Allen discussed movies in an interview with The Hindu. “As an artist, you constantly work. You make a movie. If it fails, you give it another shot. It's enjoyable in certain ways. You never let go of your objective. I merely test things out; I don't work for money or to set box office records. What would happen if I eventually reached perfection? What would I do then?”

His previous film A Rainy Day in New York was shelved by Amazon Studios as they accused Allen of “sabotaging” the film’s festival by his comments on the abuse accusations of his daughter Dylan Farrow. Allen sued the company for USD 68 million alleging a breach of contract; however, later they settled the dispute out of court, according to Variety.

Allen compared his upcoming film Wasp 22 to his 2005 caper Match Point earlier this year and called it "a sort of poisoned romantic thriller." The entire cast will be French, and the movie will be shot in Paris.