her family – said, "I play the lead. My character is called Ginny, and she's a waitress in a clam house ... It was probably like the second most stressful part I've ever played, but the experience itself was just utterly incredible." Allen later signed Justin Timberlake in the role of a lifeguard, saying that "I was doing this film and I thought, who could I get that would be an interesting guy to play a lifeguard in about 1950? I was sitting and talking with my brain trust. Someone said, 'What about Justin Timberlake?'" On August 19, 2016, Tony Sirico joined the cast. In September 2016, Jack Gore, Steve Schirripa, and Max Casella rounded out the cast of the film. Filming Principal photography began in Coney Island on September 15, 2016. On the same day, filming took place at Vinegar Hill, Brooklyn around Hudson Avenue and Gold Street. Release The film premiered as the closing film of the New York Film Festival on October 14, 2017. It was theatrically released on December 1, 2017, on Allen's 82nd birthday. Wonder Wheel was then released on DVD in the UK by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on July 16, 2018. Reception Box office Wonder Wheel grossed $1.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $14.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $15.9 million. In the United States the film made $125,570 from five theaters in its opening weekend (an average of $25,114), marking a 61% drop from Café Societys debut the previous year. In France, the film was released on January 31, 2018, and sold 20,147 tickets on its opening day, marking the lowest of any Allen film in over 15 years. Critical response On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 31% based on 202 reviews, with an average rating of 5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Wonder Wheel gathers a charming cast in an inviting period setting, but they aren't enough to consistently breathe life into a Woody Allen project that never quite comes together." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 45 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Manohla Dargis of The New York Times disliked Allen's writing but credited Winslet for filling her "shabby character with feverish life". Graham Fuller for Screen International wrote a positive review, praising Allen, "It would