Woody Allen Can’t Afford Big Stars Like De Niro, Nicholson, Hoffman…

Woody Allen says Robert De Niro snubbed a chance to work with him because the director couldn’t afford his huge wage demands.

The Oscar-winning filmmaker singled out De Niro, Jack Nicholson and Dustin Hoffman as actors who had turned him down over pay.

“There are plenty of actors and actresses that say they are desperate to work with me but then they are not available or they can’t work for the pay I’m offering.”I couldn’t afford De Niro, Nicholson or Hoffman.”

Allen, 72, makes most of his films on relatively low budgets of around $15 million.

He wanted to get Nicholson or Tom Hanks for the lead role in his film “The Curse of the Jade Scorpion” but they both turned him down.

Allen said it’s not just male leads that he has problems casting. Emma Thompson and Reese Witherspoon have both been unsuccessfully approached about roles in his films.

He has been filming in Europe rather than Hollywood for his last four films, saying his productions are better received by audiences there.

Allen made three consecutive films in London - “Match Point“, “Scoop” and “Cassandra’s Dream“. Read the rest of this entry

Cannes: Arnaud Desplechin’s ‘A Christmas Tale’ is first competition sale to US

In the first US sale of a Competition title at Cannes, Wild Bunch has sold Arnaud Desplechin’s A Christmas Tale to IFC.

The family drama, which screens here on Friday, stars an ensemble cast including Catherine Deneuve, Mathieu Amalric, Chiara Mastroianni, Emmanuelle Devos, Anne Consigny and Melvil Poupaud.

Produced by Why Not, it will be released by Bac in France.

Furthermore, Wild Bunch has closed a Japan sale on Steven Soderbergh’s Che Guevara films to Nikkatsu - the double-feature is also running in Competition.

Deals on Ken Loach’s Eric Cantona-related project - reported yesterday - have closed with Icon in the UK, Diaphana in France and Bim in Italy.

Bim has also picked up Gaspar Noe’s Enter The Void and Radu Mihaileanu’s The Concert.

Also in Italy, Medusa has taken Woody Allen’s as-yet untitled new film starring Larry David and Evan Rachel Wood. Disney has picked up rights to Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea in France and the US.

Separately, IFC announced it has taken US rights to Joshua Safdie’s Directors’ Fortnight comedy The Pleasure Of Being Robbed, which will get its international premiere here on May 23. IFC’s vice-president of acquisitions and production Arianna Bocco negotiated the deal with Josh Braun of Submarine Entertainment.