Madrid’s regional government will invest £1.3m in Woody Allen’s next film, on one condition: the title must include the city’s name and it must be filmed in the Spanish capital region.
According to a contract released by the regional government, the funding of €1.5m for the film by Allen, 89, is structured in three instalments of €150,000 in 2025, €600,000 in 2026 and €750,000 in 2027.
The film is currently working-titled Wasp 2026, reportedly an acronym for “Woody Allen Summer Project”, but the contract stipulates that the final title must have the word “Madrid” in it.
Additionally, the film must be shot entirely in the Madrid region and must “reflect in a readily recognisable way the Community of Madrid, allowing that a minimum percentage of footage of the work allows the visualisation of identifiable and recognisable spaces and locations”.
At least 15 per cent of the scenes must be shot in identifiable outdoor settings in and around Madrid city.
The contract also states that some of the payments will be made if the film premieres at “the Berlin film festival or a festival of similar international prestige”.
The deadline for the completion of the project is 31 December 2027.
Regional officials are touting the deal as part of a broader strategy to promote tourism by leveraging “cine-tourism”, whereby high-profile movie projects serve as a draw for visitors.
“Woody Allen is one of the most multifaceted contemporary artists in the cinematic landscape who has shaped one of the most original and highly valued styles in film-making,” the contract reads.
“The shooting of a film in a territory can mean enormous growth in popularity, international image and tourist attraction, and when it shows scenes or locations clearly representative or identifiable with a territory, making it almost a protagonist in the story, it strengthens its recognition and fixes it in the viewer’s memory.”
The film will be produced jointly by Allen’s Gravier Production with Spain’s Wanda Vision, which includes the film Petra among its credits.
According to The Times, Allen purchased a 1,100 sq metre Catalan modernist mansion in Barcelona this month, said to be worth about £5.26m.
This is not Allen’s first Spanish production. His 2008 film Vicky Cristina Barcelona, starring Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem, also received €1.5m (£1.3m) in funding from Catalan and Barcelona authorities. His 2020 film, Rifkin’s Festival, was shot in San Sebastián.
Allen was reportedly preparing to shoot a new film in Italy earlier this year, but according to World of Reel, financing collapsed before production could begin. A subsequent plan to relocate the project to Barcelona also failed to materialise.
Allen’s popularity as a filmmaker has diminished in the wake of the MeToo movement and renewed interest in allegations of sexual abuse from his adopted stepdaughter Dylan Farrow.
Allen has denied the accusations and a 1993 investigation by the child sexual abuse clinic of Yale-New Haven hospital and the New York Department of Social Services has cleared him.
Since Farrow made the allegations in an essay, several actors who have worked with Allen before, including Kate Winslet, Rebecca Hall, Rachel Brosnahan, Mira Sorvino, Colin Firth, and Greta Gerwig, have publicly expressed regret.
In 2018, Amazon Studios cancelled a $68m four-film deal with Allen.
In April last year, Allen hinted at retirement after finishing his 50th feature – French-language erotic thriller Coup de Chance – which he claimed could be his last film.
“I’m on the fence about it,” Allen said in an interview with Airmail. “I don’t want to go out to raise money. I find that a pain in the neck. But if someone shows up and calls in and says we want to back the film, then I would seriously consider it. I would probably not have the willpower to say no, because I have so many ideas.”
Coup de Chance premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2023, where it was received with mostly positive reviews.
The film was finally released in the US after multiple delays on 5 April.
