No surprise here, Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the North American rights to Woody Allen's next film, Irrational Manfrom Gravier Productions.  This marks the legendary director's eighth collaboration with the studio.  There are no plot details available about the film currently, but we do know it will star Joaquin Phoenix, Parker Posey, Jamie Blackley, and Emma Stone, who starred in Allen's previous film Magic in the Moonlight.  Producers on Irrational Man include include Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum and Edward Walson.  No release date has been set.

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Image via Sony Pictures Classics

On their collaboration Allen commented:

Sony Classics and I have a good working relationship...I like the way they handle my movies, very special, very classy and I always hope my films live up to their expectations.

For their part Sony Pictures Classics stated in the official announcement that:

“Woody Allen’s new movie ‘Irrational Man,’ his latest annual gift to moviegoers everywhere, is as fresh and winning as ever.”

While this news is expected, Allen recently shook things up by signing with Amazon Studios to release his first-ever TV series.  While it's always exciting to see the films Allen turns out year after year, the TV series is particularly intriguing as it's completely unprecedented and will force him to shake up his standard form of storytelling.

Allen is one of the most prolific filmmakers in cinematic history, and as such his movies are hit or miss.  For every Blue Jasmine or Midnight in Paris there's a To Rome with Love or You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (just to use some recent examples).  Here's hoping that Irrational Man falls in the former category.

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Image via Sony Pictures Classics