Bop Decameron the working title for Woody Allen's next film; plot details emerge

DC press will have the opportunity to check out Woody Allen's latest, Midnight in Paris, later on tonight. I'm hoping this experience will be much more enjoyable than last time when we screened his You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger. I'm cautiously hopeful on that one, but a bit more enthusiastic about his next project, to be set in Rome.  Details on it have been scarce, which is typically the case with any Allen film. What we've known is that Penelope Cruz, Alec Baldwin, Jesse Eisenberg, and Ellen Page were involved, with Roberto Benigni rumored. Now some additional info has been revealed ahead of it's premier at Cannes.

Variety reports that the film is now going under the working title of Bop Decameron. It'll be based on The Decameron, a collection of 100 novellas by Italian author and poet, Giovanni Boccacio, centered on tragic and erotic tales of love. Boccacio began The Decameron in 1350 and is said to have completed them in 1351. It's been represented on film a handful of times, most notably in 1971 by Pier Paolo Pasolini in 1971's The Decameron.

Allen's story will focus on four separate vignettes, two of which involve American characters in Rome. The other two featuring Italian characters. Woody Allen has been confirmed to have an acting role as well. So expect Baldwin and Cruz to be the centerpiece of one story; Eisenberg and Page the other. Bengini will likely be in one of the Italian bits, and I'm completely unsure about Allen. It'll be the first time he's been in one of his own movies since Scoop back in 2006. Nobody wants to go out with Scoop at the end of their acting credits.

I think the further away Allen gets from his comfort zone in New York, the better he is. At least lately it's seemed that way. Here's hoping this will mark something of a comeback for Allen. I know, he's always in need of a comeback, but Bob Decameron actually sounds pretty good.

Production is set to begin in Rome on July 11th.