Woody Allen generally churns out one movie a year. For decades, he’s had a whole system in place – he’s writing a new script as he’s editing a film. By the time a film comes out, he’s already in production on another one. He churned out one film a year like clockwork, some of them award-winners (Blue Jasmine, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Midnight In Paris), some of them utterly forgotten and uneventful. So what’s changed? The world. The appetite to look the other way when a “brilliant artist” is a predator in real life. Woody’s alleged molestation of his daughter Dylan Farrow got wrapped up in the #MeToo movement too, because Dylan forced the issue. And now it seems like Woody can’t get his annual films financed.

Woody Allen, after decades of churning out at least one movie a year, is taking a long-deserved break. “A Rainy Day in New York” — Allen’s 48th feature film — wrapped filming in November and is set to be released by Amazon before the end of the year. Negotiated in 2016 by then-studio head Roy Price, Amazon has a deal with Allen that leaves Amazon on the hook for three more films after “Rainy Day.” Earlier this year, a Hollywood Reporter article said that Amazon may decide to break the deal even if that means a hefty payout.

And the Woodman, 82, has no movie ready for release in 2019. IMDb lists an “Untitled Woody Allen Project” in pre-production for 2020. But sources say Allen has yet to secure financing for the project.

“Woody loves working. He never takes a vacation. But he will be taking time off this year until he can find a backer,” said one source.

“Woody always got great actors. Stars would work for scale because it gave them prestige, but with the #MeToo movement, he’s toxic,” one Hollywood producer told me.

Allen had troubles even before #MeToo. “His movies don’t make money,” said my source. “For years, he’s been going from one financier to another. He even went to Europe. But he’s run out of options.” A spokesman for Allen said, “None of this is true.”

[From Page Six]

It will be very interesting to see what Amazon does with his contract. His deal with Amazon was supposed to be a good deal for him, not because he would reap some huge financial windfall, but because Amazon was just going to quietly finance his projects and give him complete control, which is all he’s ever wanted as a filmmaker. His movies don’t make any money at the box office, which is another reason why Amazon was a good deal for him – they’re not about box office. As for this somewhat forced hiatus… I mean, we could gloat and say that thank God he’s having to face some repercussions. But he’s also an 82 year old man with multiple Oscars who might legitimately want to go into semi-retirement. Ugh.

Photos courtesy of WENN.