Woody Allen (File Photo)

    BEIJING, June 22 (Xinhuanet) -- New York-based filmmaker Woody Allen is to direct a Los Angeles Opera production later this year, media reported Friday.

    The 71-year-old director who has won three Academy Awards for directing and screenwriting will direct "Gianni Schicchi," part of Puccini's "Il Trittico," a trio of one-act operas.

    "I have no idea what I am doing," Allen said in a statement Thursday. "But incompetence has never prevented me from plunging in with enthusiasm."

    Los Angeles Opera general director Placido Domingo said he was delighted to have secured the services of Allen. It took him four years, his longest such pursuit, to get Allen to say yes.

    "I will admit that my pursuit of Woody takes the prize of the longest pursuit, because LA Opera Chairman and CEO Marc Stern and I first started talking to him some four years ago."

    "Gianni Schicchi," set in medieval Florence, is Puccini's only comedy.

    The other two parts of Puccini's work -- "Il Tabarro" and "Suor Angelica" -- will be directed by William Friedkin, best known for 1970s classics "The Exorcist" and "The French Connection."

    The Puccini production will open the LA Opera's 2008-09 season.

    (Agencies)