A prolific New York director Woody Allen has announced his retirement from filmmaking.

Currently, he’s in Europe to tackle his 50th film, Allen had spilled the beans on the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia that he decided to leave the director’s chair only to focus on his writing about his twilight years. 

The 86-year-old filmmaker’s last outing, “Wasp 22” which takes place in Paris and will be shot entirely in French in a couple of weeks. The film described the contents similar to “Match Point,” in that it would be “exciting, dramatic and also very sinister.” Allen recently wrote his fifth collection of humor pieces, “Zero Gravity,” which will be published Sept. 27 by Alianza in Spain. In the U.S., it was published by Arcade and distributed by Simon & Schuster.

This isn’t the first time Allen has brought up in the conversation that he would be stepping back from the film industry. He also revealed his feelings to Alec Baldwin live-streamed on Instagram in June, his plans to direct “one or two more” films, but also said “the thrill is gone” because of the decline of the theatrical experience during the covid. 

Allen has received a record-breaking 16 Oscar nominations for Best Screenplay and won four Academy Awards, including one for Best Director for “Annie Hall,” but he has been shy away from the ceremony.

After La Vanguardia article came out, Woody Allen has denied talk of his retirement following the publication of an interview he gave to a Spanish magazine which indicated his next film would be his last.

Now, a representative for the 86-year-old director has issued a statement today to clarify what he initially meant.

“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.”