Woody Allen is currently busy in production on his upcoming feature film set at a European film festival, while also preparing his last film “A Rainy Day in New York” for its upcoming release. However, in the midst of all this, the legendary filmmaker has a lawsuit being fought in court currently against one of the biggest companies in the world. And according to a new decision by the judge overseeing Allen’s $68 million lawsuit against Amazon, it appears that the filmmaker is going to have to narrow the scope of his claims.
In a recent judgment in the aforementioned lawsuit, various claims against Amazon from Allen have been dismissed. For those that haven’t been keeping up with the suit, Allen alleges that Amazon owes him $68 million due to the unlawful termination of a contract after the filmmaker’s comments about the #MeToo movement, as well as the resurfacing of past allegations, damaged his reputation in Hollywood.
However, the judge assigned to the case thinks that Allen is asking for too much.
The judge wrote (via THR):
“The complaint fails to allege an actionable breach of the MAA. The plaintiffs identify no breach of a contract that does not relate to an individual film. The MAA provides that any claim for damages with respect to the films licensed through it may only be brought under each film’s SPA [single picture agreement]. The plaintiffs have brought such claims in their first four causes of action and Amazon Content does not seek dismissal of those claims. The MAA provides certain benefits to Amazon, such as an exclusive ‘first look’ at Allen’s subsequent literary and visual materials and the right to publicize the parties’ agreements, but the plaintiffs do not allege that they suffered damages from the termination of these provisions.
“None of these promises are, in fact, distinct from the contractual obligations laid out in the parties’ contracts. The plaintiffs essentially claim that Amazon is bound by an implied promise to abide by the terms of the MAA… As such, the claim for breach of the implied covenant under the MAA is redundant of the plaintiffs’ breach of contract claim.”
Long story short, Woody Allen is able to continue his lawsuit about four specific films, which includes the highly-publicized situation surrounding “A Rainy Day in New York,” but isn’t able to claim anything above and beyond those specific instances, such as obligations to investors or foreign distributors.
As mentioned, the original scope of the lawsuit accounted for Allen seeking $68 million in damages. It’s unclear how much this decision to dismiss various claims can lower that dollar amount. As reported, it appears that both sides are willing to take this to trial, which wouldn’t begin until spring 2020 at the earliest.
