Woody Allen’s latest film, A Rainy Day in New York, has been left in limbo after Amazon Studios appeared to shelve it indefinitely.
The production company, which was contractually obliged to distribute the film, said on Thursday: “No release date has ever been set.”
Amazon, which signed a five-film deal with the director in 2016, struggled to find wide theatrical distribution for his previous offering, Wonder Wheel, after renewed media focus on a sexual assault allegation made by his then seven-year-old adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, in 1992.
Allen has always denied the claim. Authorities looked into the details but no evidence was found and the case was not pursued.
Sources suggest dropping the film could cost Amazon $25m (£19m). Filming for the romantic comedy – starring Timothée Chalamet, Selena Gomez, Jude Law and Elle Fanning – finished last autumn.
Amid growing public support for the #MeToo movement, Chalamet and Gomez said they regretted working on the film. The pair later donated their salaries to Time’s Up campaign against sexual harassment in Hollywood.
On Tuesday, it was reported that Allen was unlikely to release a film in 2019, which will be the first time he has not done so for 44 years. Or 43 if A Rainy Day in New York is not released.
In June, Allen appeared robust in the face of renewed attacks on his reputation, saying his track record both personally and professionally ought to have made him a “poster boy” for the #MeToo movement. The film-maker has written many acclaimed and Oscar-winning roles for women.
Over a long career, Allen has never been accused of misbehaviour on set, or of assault by anyone other than Farrow.
In 2016, months after Farrow and her brother, Ronan, repeated the allegation, Allen told the Guardian the subsequent media fallout had badly affected him.
“There are traumas in life that weaken us for the future – and that’s what’s happened to me,” he said. “The various slings and arrows of life have not strengthened me. I think I’m weaker. I think there are things I couldn’t take now that I would have been able to take when I was younger.”