Woody Allen ends lawsuit against Amazon

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Los Angeles, Nov 10 (IANS) Woody Allen has settled his breach of contract lawsuit against Amazon, which cancelled a four-movie deal with the filmmaker amid the #MeToo movement.

Allen's attorneys and Amazon's lawyers filed a joint notice dismissing the case on Friday night. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed, reports variety.com.

Allen filed the suit in February, alleging that Amazon had unilaterally backed out of the deal due to a "25-year-old baseless allegation". Allen's daughter, Dylan Farrow, has alleged that he raped her when she was seven years old, and Allen has denied the charge.

Allen claimed that Amazon was fully aware of that controversy when it entered the contract, and that the streaming giant owed him $68 million in minimum guarantee payments.

Amazon shelved the release of "A Rainy Day in New York" in 2018, and then cancelled a deal for three more films. At the time, Amazon cited Allen's "controversial comments" about the Weinstein scandal.

In a motion to dismiss part of Allen's suit, Amazon argued that the filmmaker's remarks on the scandal -- in which he warned about a "witch-hunt atmosphere" -- had made him a pariah in Hollywood.

"Scores of actors and actresses expressed profound regret for having worked with Allen in the past, and many declared publicly that they would never work with him in the future. Allen's actions and their cascading consequences ensured that Amazon could never possibly receive the benefit of its four-picture agreement," Amazon's attorneys said.

Allen's company, Gravier Productions, managed to get an international release for "A Rainy Day in New York" this year. The film has so far grossed $11.5 million in theatres around the globe. However, it has not secured a US distribution yet.

--IANS

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