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Amazon Pulls Plug On Controversial Woody Allen Film
“A Rainy Day In New York” was slated for a 2018 release, but its future is now uncertain.
Woody Allen’s latest film, “A Rainy Day In New York,” may never actually make it in front of audiences, despite costing Amazon millions.
Allen’s latest effort wrapped last fall, and while the film was originally slated for a 2018 release, Amazon has since claimed that “no release date has ever been set for the film,” Page Six reported on Wednesday.
The finished film — which reportedly features sex scenes involving an older man and an underage girl — cost Amazon $25 million to produce, according to Page Six.
The film's cast featured Hollywood A-listers Selena Gomez, Timothée Chalamet, and Jude Law.
Despite the director's deal with Amazon, which calls for three more films, the 82-year-old currently has no films in production.
Amazon execs have not publicly offered an explanation for pulling the plug on "Rainy Day," but commentators suspect that the company is reluctant to work with Allen amid backlash following the #MeToo movement.
The New York Times’ explosive piece revealing numerous sexual misconduct allegations concerning film executive Harvey Weinstein. Allen has been haunted for decades by sexual misconduct accusations
No charges against Allen were ever filed.
In the midst of growing #MeToo controversy, a number of stars from the film have publicly regretted working with Allen. Chalamet announced in January that he would be donating his salary from the film to a number of admirable causes, writing in an Instagram post, “I don’t want to profit from my work on the film, and to that end, I am going to donate my entire salary to three charities: TIME’S UP, The LGBT Center in New York and RAINN.”
Similarly, actress Regina Hall, who had previously worked with Allen on 2008's “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” also announced her intention to donate her “Rainy Day” salary to Time’s Up, according to The Cut.
Earlier this year, Allen sounded off on #MeToo, boldly proclaiming himself fit to be the “poster boy” of the movement.
“Because I have worked in movies for 50 years. I’ve worked with hundreds of actresses and not a single one — big ones, famous ones, ones starting out — have ever ever suggested any kind of impropriety at all,” he said in June. “I’ve always had a wonderful record with them.”
[Photo: Woody Allen attends Youth America Grand Prix’s 2017 Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow Gala at David H. Koch Theater, Lincoln Center on April 13, 2017 in New York City. By Presley Ann/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images]
