One thing missing so far from the upcoming film Woody Allen will shoot in Italy has been ... Italian actors. Allen has so far set Jesse Eisenberg, Penelope Cruz, Ellen Page and Alec Baldwin. I'm hearing that Allen will land iconic Italian director/actor Roberto Benigni to join the ensemble cast........

As Woody Allen prepares to arrive in Cannes with his latest film Midnight in Paris, he is confirming some casting reports about his next film, to be shot in Rome, which he calls “a comic picture, an out-and-out comedy.” Speaking to USA Today he offered that quote, said that reports pegging the film’s title as The Wrong Picture were, uh, wrong, and confirming that he would indeed appear in the film.

And he also confirmed Deadline‘s report that Roberto Benigni would play a part in the movie. We don’t know what that part will be, but he’ll join Penelope Cruz, Ellen Page, Jesse Eisenberg and Alec Baldwin.

As Woody Allen's next pic preps for a summer shoot, new details are emerging about his Rome-set project, which goes under the working title "Bop Decameron."
[...]
However, Variety has learned that the pic, set in contempo Rome, is loosely inspired by Giovanni Boccaccio's "The Decameron," the classic collection of 100 bawdy novellas written in the 1350s, and consists of four separate vignettes.
[...]
As previously announced, Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page, Penelope Cruz and Alec Baldwin are attached to star in "Bop Decameron."
[...]
A July 11 start is planned for the shoot, which line producer David Nichols ("The Tourist") is organizing in tandem with Cinecitta Studios.
[...]

Source: http://www.variety.com

Woody Allen’s Rome-Set Pic Has Working Title Of ‘Bop Decameron,’ Based On Boccaccio’s Novellas
Allen & Roberto Benigni Confirmed To Be Taking Acting Roles In Project

Woody Allen‘s latest, “Midnight in Paris,” unspools in Cannes tonight—in fact, its screening to the press on the Croisette is already over. And we’re cautiously optimistic. While Allen’s recent London and New York excursions have varied from the disappointing (”Whatever Works,” “You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger”) to the disastrous (”Scoop,” “Cassandra’s Dream”), but when he ventured to more exotic climes, for “Vicky Christina Barcelona,” the prolific writer-director ended up producing his best work in years, and the promising trailer for the Paris-set picture suggests it’s firmly in the same groove.

We’ll have our verdict on “Midnight in Paris” for you later in the day, but in the meantime Allen is, as usual, prepping for his next picture, which will this time see him travel to Rome, and he’s started assembling a promising cast with Penelope Cruz reteaming with the director, along with Alec Baldwin, Jesse Eisenberg and Ellen Page. Now, some concrete details on the films’ plot have started to emerge, as well as confirmation of a couple of cast members who’ve been rumored in the last few weeks.

Firstly, despite Allen himself giving the working title for the project as “The Wrong Picture,” it seems that things have changed: the film is now going under the working title “Bop Decameron,” according to Variety. As that might suggest, the script, described as “a major creative departure” will be loosely based on the Decameron, a collection of over 100 14th century novellas by Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio, which mostly focus on bawdy tales of love. It’s not the first time that the Decameron’s reached the screen—the 1953 RKO anthology film “Decameron Nights,” with Joan Fontaine, used a number of the stories, as did Pier Paolo Pasolini‘s 1971 film “The Decameron,” and the disastrous 2007 Hayden Christensen vehicle “Virgin Territory.” Variety also speculates that the 1962 film “Bocaccio 70,” partly helmed by Fellini, is a possible inspiration for the project.

The plot will involve four unconnected vignettes, two of which involve American characters in the city, the other two involving Italian cast members—and it seems likely that the latter two segments will actually be in Italian. Variety confirms that one of the actors in these segments, as rumored last week, looks likely to be “Life is Beautiful” Oscar winner Roberto Benigni, who’s in advanced talks for the project. The piece also brings confirmation of something that Allen had hinted at previously, and then stated in an interview with USA Today: that he’ll be appearing onscreen in the project, for the first time since 2006’s “Scoop.”

All in all, things are shaping up nicely—although the health problems that have caused Alec Baldwin to attempt to withdraw from “Rock of Ages” may yet cause problems. More Italian casting should follow, and filming’s set to get underway in Rome on July 11th. In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for our mammoth Woody Allen retrospective, which will hit alongside the U.S. release of “Midnight in Paris” next week.

He explains, "I'm one of the tales in the film. All the parts are quite significant and there just happened to be a part that I could play. You know I can't play the love interest anymore and of course this is tremendously frustrating because that's really what I want to play.

"I wanted to play all the parts that I've always played but they're not as believable anymore, so I have to play Pops, the backstage doorman at the theatre! There is a part for me in this where my wife and myself (in the film) go to Rome because our daughter is going to marry an Italian boy that she met there, and we're going over to meet him and his family."

Hmmm...wonder if Ellen's character is marrying the Italian boy?

Could Europe's Poor Water Pressure Lure Woody Allen Back To NYC?
At a recent press conference held on the Upper East Side (of course), Woody Allen discussed his new film Midnight In Paris (which is getting rave reviews)... but he also talked about his next film, which will have him acting again! Allen hasn't had a part in one of his films since 2005's Scoop, and told the press, "There just happened to be a part that I could play. I can’t play the love interest anymore, and of course this is tremendously frustrating, because that’s really what I want to play. But that’s not as believable anymore. I have to play Pops, the backstage doorman at the theater or something like that. But in this one there is a part for me." The film will also star Alec Baldwin, Ellen Page, Jesse Eisenberg and Penelope Cruz... but alas, not New York City.

The new flick (called Bop Decameron) will be filmed in Rome this summer, and Allen says, "I'll have three months of a hotel shower. I have a great shower at home. It comes down hard and hot. You get into a foreign shower—you know how that is. I like to work at home: my home, my bed, my surrounding pharmaceuticals.”

Source: gothamist.com

Allen to give Benigni ‘big part’ in new film
Italian comedian part of director’s take on Boccaccio-inspired Bop Decameron

Woody Allen has decided to give Roberto Benigni a big part in his new Rome-based film inspired by Giovanni Boccaccio’s 14th-century collection of bawdy tales, the Decameron.

“Roberto Benigni won’t just have a cameo, he will play a major role,” Allen told Ansa. The veteran US filmmaker said he would update Boccaccio with “a lot of interlocking stories against the backdrop of contemporary Rome” in the film, entitled Bop Decameron. A Hollywood A-list of stars including Penelope Cruz, Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page and Alec Baldwin has already signed up for the July-August shoot while Benigni is the only Italian to have been named so far. “But a lot of other Italian actors will be in the film,” Allen told Ansa, adding, on the back of rave reviews for his Cannes-opening Midnight in Paris: “I hope it will be very funny.”

Source: http://www.corrieretandem.com

Hmmm...wonder if Ellen's character is marrying the Italian boy? I just can't see Penelope Cruz playing Woody's daughter. Do I want to see Ellen playing Woody's daughter?

He also answered a question about his next movie, which shoots in Rome this summer and already had a reported cast including Alec Baldwin, Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page, Penelope Cruz, Roberto Benigni and Allen himself, who will be acting again after a few years on hiatus. Today he not only revealed the untitled film's plot for the first time, but confirmed that his Husbands and Wives co-star Judy Davis would also be in the film-- and I think she'll be playing his wife. Here's what he told us about the plot, and we'll speculate after.

It's a broad comedy, not a romantic comedy, of various tales interwoven. I'm one of them, in one of them. All the parts are quite significant, there are no cameos. There just happened to be a part that I could play. I can't play the love interest anymore, which is tremendously frustrating. My wife and myself go to Rome because our daughter is going to marry an Italian boy that she met there, and we go over to meet him and meet his family, and what ensues. The film is very broadly funny.

Given that he described a series of interconnected stories and not one central narrative, all the film's stars might not all be part of this central story-- and indeed, it's hard to see Baldwin and Eisenberg fitting into the meeting of an Italian and American family. But if Allen is playing the father it makes sense for Davis, though 20 years his junior, to play the mother, and for the same reason wouldn't Ellen Page make the most sense as the daughter? Roberto Benigni could easily be playing the patriarch of the other family, and presumably one of the other Italian actors currently being cast would play the husband-to-be-- does anyone know of any up-and-coming male Italian actors who could fit the bill?

Penelope Cruz will play the wife of Roberto Benigni! That's what she said some minutes ago in a press conference for Pirates 4

ROME -- Italo A-list thesps Riccardo Scamarcio, Isabella Ferrari and Sergio Rubini are in advanced negotiations to join Woody Allen's Rome-set project, which is working-titled "Bop Decameron."
Scamarcio, a local heartthrob who is breaking-out internationally ("Eden Is West," "Polisse"), Ferrari ("Quiet Chaos") and Rubini ("The Passion of the Christ") will beef up the Italian contingent of Allen's first -- albeit partial -- foray into Italian-language filmmaking.

Roberto Benigni, whose presence in the pic has been announced by Allen, is expected to have a substantial role, though his participation remains to be contractualized.

As recently revealed by Variety -- and subsequently confirmed by Allen -- the pic is set in contempo Rome, but loosely inspired by Giovanni Boccaccio's "The Decameron," the classic collection of 100 bawdy novellas written in the 1350s.

It consists of four separate vignettes. Two are stories with American characters set in Rome, while the other two involve Italian characters, also set in Rome. The vignettes never intersect.

Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page, Penelope Cruz and Alec Baldwin have long been attached to star. Last month, Allen also announced that Judy Davis had joined the cast.

Allen, who is directing from his own screenplay, has also said he will play a role, his first onscreen appearance since 2006's "Scoop."

Cameras are set to start rolling July 11 in the Italian capital.

The film, which is financed by Italy's Medusa, and produced by Allen's longtime producers, Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, along with Helen Robin, has a Euros 17 million ($24.8 million) budget.

Line producer David Nichols ("The Tourist") is organizing the shoot in tandem with Cinecitta Studios.

Cinecitta Studios will provide production services to the pic, which will shoot in Rome, but probably not on its backlot.

Contact Nick Vivarelli at nvivarelli@gmail.com

New York (June 20, 2011) – Woody Allen announced today the full cast for “The Bop Decameron,” his latest film in pre-production. Starring, in alphabetical order, are: Woody Allen, Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, Penélope Cruz, Judy Davis, Jesse Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig and Ellen Page. Co-stars include Antonio Albanese, Fabio Armiliata, Alessandra Mastronardi, Ornella Muti, Flavio Parenti, Alison Pill, Riccardo Scamarcio and Alessandro Tiberi.

“The Bop Decameron” is a Gravier Productions film produced by Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum. This is Allen's first film to be financed by the Italian production and distribution company, Medusa Film. “The Bop Decameron” begins production on July 11 and marks Allen’s first time shooting in Rome. His latest film, “Midnight in Paris,” is currently playing in theaters.

The American filmmaker Woody Allen will begin shooting his next project, Bop Decameron in Rome on Monday (11) and calculates the finish at the end of August, with a set design that shows 69 points of the Italian capital. So said the filmmaker in a meeting with the mayor, Gianni Alemanno , when he recognized the superiority of Rome as a romantic city, "above Barcelona and New York", cities that have been the background of some of his recent films.

"Rome is a beautiful city in which I am willing to start shooting, "said the director in New York. Assured Alemanno, told a news conference that Allen walked to Rome "with much spontaneity," to see the air you breathe in the city. "He was very impressed," he added. In Bop Decameron , Allen would like to be faithful to their own work habits, so that the film could be ready for September, perhaps, for the Rome Film Festival 2012. "This is to allow the producer," said the director of Midnight in Paris, who is making a big success in Brazil.

The film's cast will be composed also by Alec Baldwin (30 Rock), Jesse Eisenberg , Ellen Page , Judy Davis , Greta Gerwig and Alison Pill , besides the director, who returns to venture into acting. Penélope work with Woody Allen for the second time in his career, after the success of Vicky Cristina Barcelona , which won him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Baldwin has already filmed the American director Simply Alice , released in 1990. Eisenberg is one of the most popular actors in Hollywood after playing Mark Zuckerberg , co-founder of Facebook, the movie The Social Network , and an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Ellen Page has also been nominated for Juno and was one of the protagonists of The Origin of Christopher Nolan .

"Thank you very much. Being here is a beautiful experience and I hope that you'll have to see the film. It had been years I wanted to do a movie here, I'm glad of the opportunity. I would love to present it to the Festival next year, but is a decision that belongs to Medusa. All the cities where I have turned romantic. New York City, Paris, Barcelona, ​​London, and Rome is no exception. I chose 69 sets. "

Ummm lets hope Ellen's wardrobe is not as...ummm...bad Lets hope they keep Ellen in her traditional wardrobe