The filmmaker joined Baldwin, whom he directed in “Blue Jasmine,” “To Rome With Love,” and “Alice,” for an Instagram live interview where they discussed Allen’s new book, a collection of humor essays called “Zero Gravity.” Allen revealed to Baldwin that he’s planning a movie that will shoot in Paris this fall or late summer, but that he’s overall disillusioned by the prospect of moviemaking and may end his career soon. “I’ll probably make at least one more movie. A lot of the thrill is gone,” Allen said. “When I used to do a film it’d go into a movie house all across the country. Now you do a movie and you get a couple weeks in a movie house. Maybe six weeks or four weeks and then it goes right to streaming or pay per view… It’s not the same… It’s not as enjoyable to me.”
Allen, who admitted he does not watch streaming television and so couldn’t talk about shows like “Westworld” or “Barry,” which Baldwin brought up, added, “I don’t get the same fun doing a movie and putting it in a theater. It was a nice feeling to know that 500 people were seeing it once… I don’t know how I feel about making movies. I’m going to make another one and I’ll see how it feels.” Allen said that he felt discouraged by the closure of movie theaters and arthouses during the pandemic. “I feel that yes I will work again in film, but I might want to turn to writing,” he said, looking ahead. Baldwin first announced the interview in an Instagram post on Sunday night, “Let me preface this by stating that I have ZERO INTEREST in anyone’s judgments and sanctimonious posts here. I am OBVIOUSLY someone who has my own set of beliefs and COULD NOT CARE LESS about anyone else’s speculation. If you believe that a trial should be conducted by way of an HBO documentary, that’s your issue.” Allen has seen his Hollywood status erode in recent years, ever since the HBO docuseries “Allen v. Farrow” resurfaced allegations that he sexually abused his stepdaughter, Dylan Farrow. Allen vehemently denies the charges, but many of the actors that he once worked with have denounced him in droves. Baldwin, however, has been one of Allen’s most vocal defenders, saying that working with him on three movies was “one of the privileges of my career.”
Baldwin has been a source of controversy since the fall of last year, when on the set of “Rust” he fired the prop gun that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
