In a strange, but maybe not wholly unexpected, turn of events, actress Scarlett Johansson is suing Disney over breach of contract for her film Black Widow. The lawsuit claims that Disney’s decision to put the film on its streaming service Disney+ the same day it was coming out in theaters cost Johansson potential revenue from the film’s box office numbers.
The suit argues that the choice to stream the film was a move to increase Disney+ subscribers and, in essence, cheat Johansson out of additional revenue that will be “largely be based on box office receipts.” Additionally, it claims “Disney’s financial disclosures make clear that the very Disney executives who orchestrated this strategy will personally benefit from their and Disney’s misconduct,” i.e. the only people making money here are the higher-ups at Disney.
You can read the full filing, courtesy of Deadline.
Disney has released their statement about the lawsuit, claiming it did nothing wrong:
“There is no merit whatsoever to this filing. The lawsuit is especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Disney has fully complied with Ms. Johansson’s contract and furthermore, the release of Black Widow on Disney+ with Premier Access has significantly enhanced her ability to earn additional compensation on top of the $20M she has received to date.”
For context, Black Widow had a domestic box office of $80.3M its opening weekend, the highest of any film post-COVID. But that still puts its close to the bottom, beating out Ant-Man and the Wasp, according to Statistica.
Given that same-day streaming is new, it makes sense that actors would not have such provisions in their contracts, which could mean these executive are keeping all the money. But as cases continue to rise due to the Delta variant, is it reasonable to expect theater-only releases to be a viable option?
We will continue to monitor this story and post updates as this legal proceeding continues.
