Colin Firth and Emma Stone in ‘Magic in the Moonlight’

“The plot thickens” in the newly released trailer for Woody Allen’s Magic in the Moonlight, which sees the director’s latest return to 1920s France since his fantastical Midnight in Paris.  Oscar winner Colin Firth and Emma Stone are at playful odds with each other; Stanley (Firth), an illusionist and supposedly the “greatest debunker of false spiritualists,” is tasked to uncover the truth behind the enchanting but elusive spirit medium Sophie (Stone).

Showing off the lush art direction and colors of the glamorous Jazz Age, the trailer shows Magic in the Moonlight as a fanciful comedy filled with romance, mystery, and magic.  We’re also granted a sneak peak of the auteur’s trademark droll philosophizing, as Stanley purports to Sophie, “I believe that the dull reality of life is there, but you are proof that there’s more—more mystery, more magic.” Additional cast members include Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden (Pollack, Mystic River), two-time Oscar nominee Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook, Animal Kingdom), Hamish Linklater (the upcoming The Angriest Man in Brooklyn, 42), Simon McBurney (The Last King of Scotland), and Eileen Atkins (Gosford Park).

Last year, Allen’s Blue Jasmine earned the director his record-breaking 24^th Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay, as well as a Best Actress win for Cate Blanchett and a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Sally Hawkins.

Even with the recently reemerging scandal involving Dylan Farrow, Allen is still working away at future projects.  Emma Stone is already attached to Allen’s next two films, the first of which will start shooting in July.

Magic in the Moonlight will open July 25.