Woody Allen settles over $12m 'cheat'

Woody Allen's real-life courtroom drama ended abruptly yesterday when the film maker settled his multimillion-dollar lawsuit against his old friend and producer Jean Doumanian.

Allen's lawyer, Michael Zweig, had called eight witnesses, including Allen and Doumanian, during the nine-day jury trial before the two sides reached an agreement. "The parties have reached a business resolution of the dispute," Mr Zweig said. Details of were not disclosed.

Allen, 66, had claimed Doumanian and her companion, Jacqui Safra, cheated him out of at least $12m (£8m) in profits on movies produced by Doumanian's Sweetland Films.

Doumanian and Safra said Allen received a total of $19.5m from Sweetland and in fact owed them money. Allen said six of the eight films he made with Sweetland were profitable. Their collaboration included Bullets Over Broadway, Mighty Aphrodite, Everyone Says I Love You, Deconstructing Harry, Wild Man Blues, Celebrity, Sweet and Lowdown and Small Time Crooks.

Doumanian had told the court she was "not sure" whether Deconstructing Harry made a profit, though documents indicated it cleared $5.4m. She also testified that she had given herself a $250,000 rise without consulting Allen.

Asked after the settlement whether the agreement would mend her differences with Allen, she simply shrugged.