For a moment there, it looked we wouldn't be getting our annual dose of Woody Allen next year. We figured that with the director busy with a rare acting gig in John Turturro's "Fading Gigolo" and preparing "Bullets Over Broadway" for Broadway in 2013, he wouldn't have time to get behind the camera as he does each summer. Turns out, Allen is sticking to the schedule and continues to build the cast for his next movie.
Variety reports that Sally Hawkins has signed up to play — get this — "a neurotic who's more fun and rough around the edges." That's some real stunt casting by Woody. But kidding aside, Hawkins is fantastic, and actually a pretty great fit for an Allen flick which as previously reported will be shot in San Francisco and New York City this summer, and will be (shocker) a "dramedy." For Hawkins, it will be her second go with Woody after she nabbed in a role in "Cassandra's Dream," which arrived before her breakout turn in "Happy-Go-Lucky." Clearly, Woody has an eye for talent.
Cate Blanchett (who would play "a sophisticated woman who has her life together") and Bradley Cooper are also both looking at roles in the film, though they aren't locked just yet (in the case of the latter, it will likely be a matter of ensuring production doesn't clash with "The Hangover Part III"). So, maybe Woody will return to Cannes in 2013 after skipping 2012? We'll wait and see but don't forget, his lastest endeavor "To Rome With Love" opens on June 22nd.