Woody Allen Scores with “Paris,” Casts Judy Davis In Next Film

Woody Allen had a big weekend with “Midnight in Paris.” The absolutely terrific comedy made $579,000 in six theaters. It could turn out to be Allen’s biggest hit ever, certainly as big as “Vicki Cristina Barcelona.” Now Allen gets ready to shoot his next film, “Bop Decameron,” in Rome, with an all star cast. Allen told me that he’s cast Judy Davis, who’s been in several of his films including “Husbands and Wives” and “Alice.” Davis joins cast that already includes Penelope Cruz, Roberto Benigni, Jesse Eisenberg, Alec Baldwin and Ellen Page. I do wish at some point Allen would go back and do a reunion film with Tony Roberts and Diane Keaton. The other night on the Croisette, the Cannes Film Festival did a big outdoor screening on the beach of Roberts and Catherine Deneuve and Yves Montand in “Le Sauvage” from 1975. We stopped and watched it from the sidewalk for a bit, and the film really holds up. Roberts is underrated. But he will always be associated with Woody from “Annie Hall,” “Play it Again, Sam,” and appearances in several other Allen films. Meantime, “Midnight in Paris” shows that Allen, age 75, remains the premiere (living) American filmmaker, along with Scorsese, Eastwood, Coppola, Lucas, and Spielberg.