Woody makes it three

Film legend Woody Allen is to direct his third movie in London in two years. Allen hopes to begin filming the untitled project next year. Match Point, the American writer-director's first London movie, starring Scarlett Johansson, is not released here until January.

However, advance word is that the film heralds a return to form for Allen, who won Oscars for comedies Annie Hall and Hannah And Her Sisters.

It has already proved to be a boxoffice smash in France where it was released this month. Allen's second London movie - Scoop - is about an American journalism student who falls for an English aristocrat and also stars Johansson. It is in post-production.

" Woody is suff iciently encouraged by the buzz about Match Point to have begun looking to fund his third London film," said a film source.

Allen is famously secretive about new projects and is known for sending actors only their lines rather than the whole script. But it is thought likely Johansson will be offered a leading part in the next film.

The Oscar-winning director, who will be 70 on Thursday, has embraced England following a string of film flops.

Match Point is the first Allen film to be shot entirely outside his native New York but he has found it much easier to finance films in Britain. BBC Films financed Match Point and Scoop but will not be funding his third London feature.

The BBC had been criticised for backing Allen's projects instead of home-grown talent. "There's a feeling that three Woody Allen films being financed by the Beeb is excessive, especially with charter renewal on the horizon," said the source.

Allen has built up a select core of favoured British actors. James Nesbitt and Colin Salmon star in both Scoop and Match Point and Allen admires comedian Eddie Izzard and Kate Winslet who was first offered Johansson's role in Match Point.

The director has been keen to use London landmarks in his films. Tate Modern, the Saatchi Gallery and the Royal Opera House feature in Match Point, while scenes for Scoop were shot in Annabel's nightclub. Allen also loves the capital's overcast skies, saying the light here makes it easier to film.