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Emma Stone and Colin Firth star in the new Woody Allen film 'Magic in the Moonlight'

Emma Stone and Colin Firth star in the movie 'Magic in the Moonlight,' a 1920s-set comedy in which a stage magician (Firth) tries to prove a psychic (Stone)'s powers aren't real. Emma Stone recently starred in 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2.'

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Lucas Jackson/Reuters
Emma Stone (r.) and Colin Firth (l.) star in 'Magic in the Moonlight.'
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

Emma Stone and Colin Firth headline director Woody Allen’s new comedy “Magic in the Moonlight,” which follows a stage magician, Stanley (Firth), who is determined to expose a psychic named Sophie (Stone) whom he believes to be faking her powers. 

The movie, which is set in the 1920s, also stars Marcia Gay Harden, “Silver Linings Playbook” actress Jacki Weaver, and Hamish Linklater of the CBS comedy “The Crazy Ones.”

“Magic,” which will be released on July 25, follows Allen’s pattern of releasing a new movie every year. Cate Blanchett, who starred in his 2013 film, “Blue Jasmine,” received a Best Actress Oscar for her work and actress Sally Hawkins was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars for her role.

Other recent movies directed and written by Allen include “To Rome With Love,” “Midnight in Paris,” and “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”

Firth recently appeared in the film “The Railway Man,” which was released in April, and stars in the movie “Before I Go To Sleep,” which will be released in September, and October’s “Kingsman: The Secret Service.” Meanwhile, Stone starred in the movie “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” which came out in May, and appears in the film “Birdman,” which is set to be released this October.

The two actors recently spoke about how they came on board to star in “Magic.”

“He’s incredibly protective of the plot,” Stone said of Allen in an interview with the Daily Beast. “I think he goes to great lengths to keep it under wraps. I had a very short meeting with him and his casting directors, and about a month later I got to go to his office to read the script, and then give it back. It sounds weird, but I’ve read ‘Spider-Man’ the same way. Now all these scripts need to be controlled, otherwise they leak.” 

Both agreed that one of their favorite films of Allen’s is the 1975 film “Love and Death.”

“Sometimes, it’s the time or whatever day that was, and the fact that you were in the mood for that movie,” Firth said. “I love ‘Manhattan,’ and I know it’s not one of Woody’s favorites.”

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