Woody Allen, 86, announces retirement from filmmaking to focus on writing

Woody Allen announced Sunday that he is retiring from filmmaking after a career spanning more than five decades, Variety reported.

While promoting his 50th film in Europe, Allen told Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia, “My idea, in principle, is not to make more movies, and focus on writing.”

The director and actor said he intends to produce a novel.

Over the course of his career, Allen received 16 Oscar nominations for best screenplay and won four Academy Awards.

In June, Allen floated the idea that he would retire in an interview with Alex Baldwin, saying “a lot of the thrill is gone.” Allen cited the shift toward movie streaming rather than the more traditional cinema model as the cause of his declining passion.

“I don’t get the same fun [as] doing a movie and putting it in a theater,” Allen said. “It was a nice feeling to know that 500 people were seeing it at once.”

The 86-year-old director and comedian fell from grace in the US after his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, accused him of sexually abusing her as a child. Allen has always denied the claims.

The accusations were enough for Amazon to cancel its release of Allen’s film “A Rainy Day in New York,” tearing up their $80 million contract.

According to a 2015 biography authored by New York-based writer David Evanier, Allen put his Jewishness at the forefront of his work, getting to the heart of Jewish insecurity in the process.

“Allen was the first mainstream Jewish comedian star,” says Evanier, who has also written biographies of Tony Bennett and Bobby Darrin.

Agencies contributed to this report