Amazon Studios has been sued by Woody Allen for breaching their contract after the company refused to distribute his most recent movie, A Rainy Day in New York.
Woody Allen, 83, is seeking more than $68 million in damages, alleging Amazon Studios backed out of a multi-picture deal without cause.
Amazon released two of Woody Allen’s films and also distributed his TV series, Crisis in Six Scenes.
According to a lawsuit filed on February 7 in New York, Woody Allen claims Amazon backed out of the deal in June 2018 because of an old accusation that the director had molested his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow in 1992.
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The legal action said Amazon knew about “a 25-year old, baseless” allegation when it entered into deals with Woody Allen and that it “does not provide a basis for Amazon to terminate the contract”.
A Rainy Day in New York was shot in 2017 with a cast including Jude Law, Rebecca Hall, Selena Gomez and Timothée Chalamet.
A number of the movie’s cast members have since distanced themselves from the project, with Timothée Chalamet announcing in 2018 he would give his salary to charity.
In 2018, Jude Law told Vanity Fair it was “a terrible shame” the film had been shelved and that he would “have to consider carefully” before ever working with Woody Allen again.