WOODY ALLEN ‘NEVER SAID HE WAS RETIRING:’ Following the reports that Woody Allen is retiring, the Annie Hall director released a statement announcing otherwise. According to Deadline, the statement reads, “Woody Allen never said he was retiring, not did he say he was writing another novel. He said he was thinking about not making films as making films that go straight or very quickly to streaming platforms is not so enjoyable for him, as he is a great lover of the cinema experience. Currently, he has no intention of retiring and is very excited to be in Paris shooting his new movie, which will be the 50th.”
KATHY BATES, ALAN ARKIN, AND TEYANA TAYLOR JOIN THE CAST OF ‘THE SMACK:’ According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kathy Bates, Alan Arkin, and Teyana Taylor have all joined the cast of the heist thriller The Smack, based on the novel by Richard Lange. Casey Affleck, Marisa Tomei, Isabel May, and Yul Vázquez are also set to star in the film.
SARAH PAULSON TO STAR AS GWEN SHAMBLIN IN ‘THE WAY DOWN:’ Deadline reports that Sarah Paulson is set to star as Gwen Shamblin in the HBO Max scripted docuseries The Way Down: God, Greed, and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin. Founder of the Weigh Down Workshop and the Remnant Fellowship Church, Shamblin allegedly engaged in cult-like practices and was accused of emotional, psychological, and physical abuse.
