It’s really quite an amazing feat that Woody Allen has been able to remain as prolific a filmmaker as he has. Even at the age of 77, an age many would have been retired for several years upon reaching, he has never failed to deliver a film every year for over the past two decades. Granted, not all of them have been good. You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Whatever Works, and To Rome with Love didn’t exactly hit the mark of quality that we’ve come to expect from him, but he’s also delivered Match Point, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and the brilliant Midnight in Paris, one of the best films of his career.
Despite the fact that his latest film, Blue Jasmine, hasn’t even premiered yet, Allen has already recruited a cast for his next project, which we already know includes Colin Firth and Emma Stone as the leads. The supporting cast features Marcia Gay Harden, Jacki Weaver, Eileen Atkins (Cold Mountain), Simon McBurney (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Hamish Linklater (Battleship), Erica Leerhsen (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), and Jeremy Shamos (Taking Woodstock). The last few may not be household names, but they’ve starred in some pretty big projects, and besides, if Allen thinks they’re good enough to be in one of his ensembles, then there must be a pretty good amount of talent there.
As an added bonus, we also have a few new behind the scenes pictures and stills of the soon to be released Blue Jasmine, which stars Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, Bobby Cannavale, Andrew Dice Clay, Peter Sarsgaard, and Sally Hawkins. The film is about “a life crisis [that] causes a woman to head to San Francisco, where she reconnects with her sister.”
Like with any Woody Allen film, I’ll certainly be checking it out as soon as possible. Even though, as I said earlier, they’re not all particularly good, his casts are usually a delight to watch nonetheless. Hopefully this will continue to be the case as he moves into his later years.
Blue Jasmine arrives in theaters on July 26th.
Check out the pics in the gallery below and let us know what you think in the comments!
(Source: The Film Stage)
