Woody Allen sues Amazon Studios
February 8, 2019
Woody Allen is suing Amazon Studios for breach of contract in refusing to distribute his latest movie.
The 83-year-old Hollywood director, actor and writer is seeking some $68 million in damages, after accusing the company of backing out of a multi-picture deal without cause.
Amazon released two of Allen’s films and also distributed his TV series, Crisis in Six Scenes, exclusively on Prime video. But it dropped his most recent movie, A Rainy Day in New York.
According to a lawsuit filed in New York on February 7th, Allen alleges that Amazon backed out of the deal in June 2018 because of the re-emergence of an old accusation that the director had molested his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow in 1992.
Allen’s filing in New York federal court states: “Amazon has tried to excuse its action by referencing a 25-year-old, baseless allegation against Mr Allen, but that allegation was already well known to Amazon (and the public) before Amazon entered into four separate deals with Mr Allen – and, in any event it does not provide a basis for Amazon to terminate the contract … There simply was no legitimate ground for Amazon to renege on its promises.”
A Rainy Day in New York was shot in 2017 with a cast including Selena Gomez, Jude Law and Rebecca Hall. A number of its cast members have since distanced themselves from the project.
Allen also says he is owed $9 million by Amazon after financing the production of the movie himself.