Allen will appear as a man posing as Johansson's character's father

The film had been known as Woody Allen Summer Project. Trade website Screen Daily said it was "a light comedy about sex, love, suspense and murder".

Like his previous London-set film Match Point, screened at Cannes in May, Scoop stars Scarlett Johansson.

The American actress plays a journalism student who investigates a series of murders while studying in the capital.

Hugh Jackman and Ian McShane co-star, as do actors James Nesbitt and Colin Salmon - both of whom can also be seen in Match Point.

Allen appears himself as a man posing as Johansson's father.

'Mistakes'

"It so happens that in this next film there is a very good part for me to play and I'm going to play it," the director said in May.

Having stayed behind the camera on Match Point and his previous film Melinda and Melinda, it marks his first screen role since 2003's Anything Else.

In an interview published in the latest edition of Vanity Fair magazine, Allen said he has learned little with age as he approaches his 70th birthday on 1 December.