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 • After Woody Allen’s first project with Mediapro, both parties have decided to extend their collaboration to three new films to be shot between 2009 and 2011. Firstable, this year will be shot in London and probably the second one in Paris.


• Filming in Spain commenced on 9th July 2007 and ended on 24th August. During the first week in August the cast and crew travelled to Asturias for filming.


• On 14th June 2007, three weeks before filming began, Barcelona’s Universitat Pompeu Fabra awarded Woody Allen an honorary doctorate. He is the third personality to receive such an accolade from the university, after the South African pacifist Desmond Tutu and the Catalan theologian and historian Miquel Batllori. During the ceremony, the film-maker said that “filming in Barcelona was a dream come true”.


• The film was initially entitled Midnight in Barcelona. During filming in Barcelona and Asturias the name changed to WASP (Woody Allen Spanish Project). The definitive title, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, was decided on during the final editing stage in spring 2008.


• During filming in Barcelona, the Catalan and Spanish media gave widespread coverage to the large crowds that had gathered at the locations. Most of the media mentioned the fact that this had created a certain unease among the cast and crew. Nothing could be further from the truth. Woody Allen denied this in subsequent statements to the press in 2008, “It’s not true that I felt under pressure during filming. Filming in New York is much more complicated”.


• When he wasn’t filming, Woody Allen enjoyed being in the city. He said that there were number of reasons for this. Firstly, because he loves Barcelona: it’s energetic, cosmopolitan and very urban. Secondly, because of the food. Thirdly, because he had the opportunity to play some jazz. Two members of his band performed in summer 2007 at the Hotel Casa Fuster, and on more than one occasion he joined them, much to the audience’s delight.


• The music heard during the opening scene and in other sequences of the film is taken from the album Eusebio by the Barcelona-based band Giulia y los Tellarini. As chance would have it, Woody Allen was given a copy of the album when he was filming in Barcelona. He was fascinated by it and decided to include some of the songs on the soundtrack. In fact, the song bearing the city’s name was chosen as the main theme for the film.


• Barcelona isn’t the only focal point of the film. Wine also plays a central role. There are 15 sequences showing people drinking red and white wine and singing its praises.


• The film had a budget of 15.5 million dollars and has been a big hit at the box office. By February of 2009, it had already grossed 70 million euros around the world. From the date of its premiere in Spain, on 18th September 2008, until February 2009, the film had been seen by more than one million and a half people and taken over 7.7 million euros at the box office. The film has scored takings of more than 25 million dollars in the USA and is Woody Allen’s highest-grossing film in France.