New York — Filmmaker Woody Allen has filed a $68 million suit against Amazon for breach of contract, accusing the streaming giant of canceling a film deal because of a "baseless" decades-old allegation that he sexually abused his daughter.

Allen says Amazon sought to terminate the deal in June, and has since refused to pay him $9 million in financing for his latest film, "A Rainy Day in New York," his lawyers at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan allege.

That film was one of several to be produced with the Oscar-winning director under a series of agreements reached after Allen made the "Crisis in Six Scenes" program for Amazon, which was then a new content provider.

He is seeking that $9 million along with minimum guarantees owed him for three other films, totaling "in excess of $68,000,000," according to a complaint filed Thursday in federal court in New York and obtained by AFP.

In addition to the first nine million, the contract provided for minimum inputs of another nine million, 25 million and another 25 million for the other three films, planned for 2018, 2019 and 2020 respectively. That totals 68 million.

Allen says Amazon told him the deal had become "impracticable" because of "supervening events, including renewed allegations against Mr Allen, his own controversial comments" and the refusal of actors to work with him. — AFP