Christoph Waltz and Gina Gershon have been lined up to star in Woody Allen's next romantic comedy.
The Annie Hall director's last movie, A Rainy Day in New York, was shelved after allegations of sexual abuse resurfaced at the height of the #MeToo movement, accusations he has denied, and a number of actors subsequently expressed their regret about working with him.
However, Allen has managed to employ a largely European cast for his next project, which has a working title of Wasp 2019, including the Inglourious Basterds star, Showgirls actress Gershon, Clueless' Wallace Shawn, French actor Louis Garrel, and Spanish stars Sergi Lopez and Elena Anaya.
The film has been described as a "comedy-romance" about a married American couple who go to the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain, with the wife having an affair with a French movie director, while the husband falls in love with a beautiful Spanish woman.
Executives at Spanish production studio Mediapro, who previously worked with Allen on Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Midnight in Paris, announced via a press release that the shoot is scheduled to begin in the European country on 10 July.
"At Mediapro we've been working with Woody Allen for 14 years. His films, like every project the group produces, have a unique personality. This latest movie has all the ingredients to be right up there along with what we've become accustomed to from a director of Woody Allen's talent: an intelligent script and a first-rate international cast. In addition, we're delighted to be able to shoot the movie in a city such as San Sebastian, which has such strong ties to cinema," said Mediapro founder Jaume Roures.
A Rainy Day in New York, which stars Selena Gomez and Timothee Chalamet, was left in limbo after Amazon Studios bosses halted its release over the controversy surrounding the filmmaker. They have since terminated their deal with Allen and dropped the movie, which has been picked up by multiple European distributors and is set to be released later this year.
