Woody Allen directs ‘Midnight in Paris’

When: Opening Friday at local theaters

Cast: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody, Michael Sheen, Marion Cotillard

Director: Woody Allen

The story: Visiting the City of Lights with his fiancee and her family, a frustrated screenwriter (and wannabe novelist) longs for the Paris of yore, only to find himself magically whisked back to the days of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Salvador Dali and Gertrude Stein.

The buzz: Fresh from its opening-night triumph at May’s Cannes film festival, “Midnight in Paris” is poised to become Allen’s biggest hit in some time; it’s only the third movie of the past 15 years to hit the box-office top 10 while playing on fewer than 100 screens. (The others: “Brokeback Mountain” and “Black Swan.”)

By CAROL CLING