Amazon in Talks to Fully Finance Next Woody Allen Film for US$25M1 min read
Reading Time: < 1 minuteAmazon Studios is taking its relationship with Woody Allen to the next level.The streaming giant, according to sources, is in negotiations to fully finance the director’s next film, the untitled Kate Winslet-Jim Belushi starrer. The Hollywood Reporter previously reported that Amazon was negotiating to distribute the movie, which co-stars Justin Timberlake and Juno Temple, but it now appears that the deep-pocketed company is sweetening the offer significantly. An insider pegs the pic’s budget at US$25 million.
By opting to have Amazon finance, Allen shut out financiers Ron Chez and Edward Walson as well as longtime producer Stephen Tenenbaum. Chez and Walson have financed the last several Allen movies including Café Society, which is said to have run $10 million over budget at $30 million. Tenenbaum’s relationship with Allen goes back even further than Walson, beginning with 2001’s The Curse of the Jade Scorpion. Adam Bryan Stern, who is married to Allen’s niece Erika Aronson, is running point on Allen’s career and wanted a change. Stern has been negotiating on behalf of the writer-director. ICM, which reps Allen, also is involved in the dealmaking. Though he’s out as a financier, Walson does retain an option to serve in some producing capacity on future Allen films.
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