Though its fate sparked a major legal battle between Woody Allen and Amazon, A Rainy Day in New York has found a home … on Amazon.
The film, written and directed by the embattled auteur, is currently streaming for free on Amazon Prime and even carries the Prime logo, indicating it’s a title that Amazon released. But a source says Amazon has nothing to do with the film, which stars Timothée Chalamet and Elle Fanning and marked the first of four films covered under a $68 million deal struck in 2017 between Allen and Amazon.
But months after that deal closed, the #MeToo era hit Hollywood and the film’s stars began to publicly distance themselves from Allen, who was previously accused of molesting daughter Dylan Farrow when she was 7 years old. Though Allen maintains his innocence, Amazon attempted to sever ties with the tarnished director and return Rainy Day to him to do with what he pleased. Allen sued for breach of contract in 2019, and the sides settled later that year. (Terms weren’t disclosed).
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Rainy Day isn’t the only Allen movie to raise eyebrows on a streaming platform. In February, HBO opted to keep six Allen films — including Broadway Danny Rose and Radio Days — on its HBO Max platform despite running alongside Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick’s explosive docuseries Allen v. Farrow, which offered a scathing look at the director and featured never-before-seen videos shot by Mia Farrow of an adolescent Dylan recounting the alleged abuse.
“These titles will remain available in the library to allow viewers to make their own informed decisions about screening the work,” HBO said in a statement at the time.
Likewise, Amazon also has several Allen films available via its library including the Kate Winslet starrer Wonder Wheel. Still, the source says Rainy Day shouldn’t have Prime branding and Amazon lawyers are trying to rectify the situation with the film’s third-party distributor, Signature Home Entertainment U.K. Alas, weeks after surfacing on the platform, the logo remains.
A version of this story first appeared in the June 9 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
