Woody Allen Drops Career Bombshell On Alec Baldwin

For some reason, Alec Baldwin chose to have controversial filmmaker Woody Allen join him on an Instagram live stream early Tuesday, June 28, for what seemed to be a totally random interview. However, as it turns out, the "Midnight in Paris" director wanted to drop a career bombshell on Baldwin and everyone else watching.

Since the 1960s, the 86-year-old Allen has been working in Hollywood as a writer, director, and actor, among other things (via IMDb). His laundry list of critically-acclaimed movies makes him a legend in the business. However, Allen is also famous for something much darker. In the early 1990s, Allen was accused of molesting Mia Farrow's 7-year-old adopted daughter, Dylan (via The New York Times). Allen has long proclaimed his innocence, even penning an op-ed on the subject for The New York Times in 2014.

However, the accusations against the director again entered the spotlight in 2021, following the release of "Allen v. Farrow," a documentary that covers the allegations against him. Despite the renewed focus on the claims, Allen continued his movie career and is now planning to extend his filmography to 50 features with an untitled project set to shoot in Paris, France, at some point later this year (via Screen Daily). 

Interestingly, if what Allen told Baldwin about his career during his Instagram live stream is true, his next film could be quite notable for one very specific reason.

One day before initiating the live stream, Alec Baldwin posted a video advertising the upcoming interview. Although he put on a smile for the video and appeared jovial, the caption attached to the post told a somewhat different story. "Let me preface this by stating that I have ZERO INTEREST in anyone's judgments and sanctimonious posts here," Baldwin wrote (via NBC News). "I am OBVIOUSLY someone who has my own set of beliefs and COULD NOT CARE LESS about anyone else's speculation. If you believe that a trial should be conducted by way of an HBO documentary, that's your issue."

With that disclaimer out of the way, the interview went ahead as planned. Speaking to Baldwin from his home in New York, Woody Allen revealed his plans to step away from Hollywood following "one or two more" projects, telling the embattled "Rust" actor, "I'm going to make another one, and I'll see how it feels" (via Times Union). Allen added, "A lot of the thrill is gone. It's not as enjoyable as it was."

The comments came while roughly 2,600 viewers watched on Instagram, with many clearly not expecting such a bombshell. Allen went on to reveal exactly why he plans to step away from the movie industry. Notably, Allen's reasoning for this move doesn't appear to have anything to do with his advanced age or controversial nature.

Standing on his Instagram live soapbox, Woody Allen explained that the reason he plans to end his film career is because of the dwindling movie theater industry, which he attributed to streaming apps and other viewing outlets. "Now, you do a movie and you get a couple of weeks in a movie house, maybe six weeks, four weeks, whatever. And then it goes right to streaming or right to pay-per-view," Allen told Alec Baldwin (via Deadline). "People love sitting home with their big screens and watching it on their television sets." 

Describing his newfound desire to step away, Allen added, "I don't have to be cold in the winter or hot in the summer or up at 5 o'clock in the morning, making decisions all day long. I'm home and there's nothing I can do but exercise, practice the clarinet and write. I was home writing a lot ... I thought to myself, 'What if I didn't make film? This is a nice way to live.' And I thought, 'Well, maybe I'll make one or two more.'" Interestingly, Allen appeared similarly disinterested in returning to the world of live theater production.

"I have the same whining complaint about the theater," he told Baldwin. "When I was younger, you'd go to the theater district and it would be lit up and it would have one interesting play after the other, and it was just fun to go. There was a tremendous amount of variety ... There's no more Arthur Miller or Tennessee Williams or William Inge or Edward Albee."