Scarlett Johansson sues Disney for releasing ‘Black Widow’ in theaters and on Disney+

[big dog cowboy]

Scarlett Johansson sues Disney for releasing ‘Black Widow’ in theaters and on Disney+
Ethan Alter·Senior Writer, Yahoo Entertainment

According to the lawsuit that Johansson filed on Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, that hybrid release plan breached her original contract with Marvel Entertainment and Disney, which reportedly guaranteed an exclusive theatrical release. Furthermore, her salary for the film would be based largely on how it performed at the box office. Although Black Widow grossed more than $200 million worldwide during its opening weekend — including $80 million at the U.S. theatrical box office, and $60 million via Disney+ — the film experienced a significant drop-off in subsequent weeks.

"Disney intentionally induced Marvel’s breach of the agreement, without justification, in order to prevent Ms. Johansson from realizing the full benefit of her bargain with Marvel," the lawsuit states. Sources told the Journal that the actress could stand to lose upwards of $50 million in bonuses over the move.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment...ic-universe-breach-of-contract-184307567.html

 

[cowboyec]

read the contract.
pretty sure its in there some where about disney and ownership of disney product...and disney being the ones in charge of release dates..
who
what
when
where
how
they dont bother with the why...they own it.

 

[DallasEast]

A will-never-be-read note:

Ms. Johansson. With all due respect. I watched and enjoyed your movie. However, the simultaneous theaters/Disney+ release was a blessing financially for your film given the current state of exclusive theater audience attendance. Word-of-mouth would have empowered greater box office but I do not believe it would have made much difference.

The entertainment quality of your movie is neither at the Wonder Woman (2017) nor Captain Marvel (2019) level. Your film's grosses will not approach the close or excess one billion mark those two did in my opinion.

My advice? You should sue Disney for not producing a movie for you shortly after Captain America: Civil War following multiple MCU appearances during the mid-buildup to Avengers: Infinity War. Your 'brand' was red hot at that time. Even the plot of her current movie would have slotted far better at that time than now. The box office boost would have been better.

You could have been Wonder Woman. Or Captain Marvel. You could have played the female superhero that rocketed Hollywood first. Instead, they waited until your character died before trying to capitalize on the vibrant life it had already accumulated on screen.

Good luck. I think you will need it. And do not worry. I will be re-watching your movie on Disney+. Promise.

 

[CyberB0b]

read the contract.
pretty sure its in there some where about disney and ownership of disney product...and disney being the ones in charge of release dates..
who
what
when
where
how
they dont bother with the why...they own it.

She likely has an army of lawyers that know the facts better than you and I do.

 

[cowboyec]

She likely has an army of lawyers that know the facts better than you and I do.

so does disney tho.
and im no fan of disney.

 

[Stash]

read the contract.
pretty sure its in there some where about disney and ownership of disney product...and disney being the ones in charge of release dates..
who
what
when
where
how
they dont bother with the why...they own it.

This one isn’t about release date but release locations. Her income was tied to box office gross which was severely impacted by the streaming decision. A decision by the way which was not laid out in that same contract.

Warner Bros ultimately compensated those affected by their HBO Max streaming decisions and I anticipate Disney doing the same.

 

[CouchCoach]

This one isn’t about release date but release locations. Her income was tied to box office gross which was severely impacted by the streaming decision. A decision by the way which was not laid out in that same contract.

Warner Bros ultimately compensated those affected by their HBO Max streaming decisions and I anticipate Disney doing the same.

And the question is did Disney do a new contract for this film or was that under an existing one made well before this pandemic affected the theaters? I don't think her lawyers are going after them based off a new contract because Marvel was known for mutli production contracts to protect themselves and make sure they had the key players on board for the run of the series. Those Avengers were completing multi production contracts and in most of those existing contracts, it is explicit how the home market with BlyRay's and streaming is compensated and the time allotted for the theater only run.

She's going to be the standard bearer for a lot of film production people that have been blindsided by the home release at the same time as the theatrical release. Many are based on points of the gross and she might just eat into that home market for more points.

 

[Stash]

And the question is did Disney do a new contract for this film or was that under an existing one made well before this pandemic affected the theaters? I don't think her lawyers are going after them based off a new contract because Marvel was known for mutli production contracts to protect themselves and make sure they had the key players on board for the run of the series. Those Avengers were completing multi production contracts and in most of those existing contracts, it is explicit how the home market with BlyRay's and streaming is compensated and the time allotted for the theater only run.

She's going to be the standard bearer for a lot of film production people that have been blindsided by the home release at the same time as the theatrical release. Many are based on points of the gross and she might just eat into that home market for more points.

I’m ‘siding’ with her on this one based on all that I know. She signed a deal where she would receive compensation based on box office grosses and Disney’s decision to stream negatively impacted that compensation. From what I know, there was no amended contract done so in my opinion she has good reason to be upset. In addition, it’s claimed that Disney simply ignored her concerns to this point.

Warner adjusted compensation to those that were affected by their own streaming decisions and I think Disney should and ultimately will too.

 

[Hardline]

I don't care what goes on in Hollywood.
Is there a way both sides can come out losers?

 

[Reverend Conehead]

My time machine has been malfunctioning lately. I tried again to go back in time to 1965 to get together with a young Catherine Deneuve, but it sent me 1965 years into the future. I was lucky to even get home. I suspect Amber Heard sabotaged it, but now I'm starting to realize that she and Scarlett Johansson have teamed up against me! Thanks to them, I nearly got trapped 1,965 years in the future, and that future wasn't pretty, let me tell you. Humans are gone and replaced by clunky android/robots, and the dominant life form are these big-white puffy things that look like giant marshmallows. The NFL is still played by these goofy androids, and there's an android with Jerry Jones' conscious transplanted in it that's still looking for its 4th ring.

There was no sexy Catherine Deneuve in sight, and the best I could have done would have been to make love to a giant marshmallow without having any way of knowing what gender it even was. Fortunately, the marshmallow people were intelligent and helped me to fix my time machine -- or I never would have gotten back. I nearly got stranded there thanks to those *****es, Amber and Scarlett!

And now that Scarlett is whining about her movie getting streamed? That Karen.

 

[kskboys]

Scarlett needs support. Soooo, I am willing to sacrifice my time and support her body parts that she is having trouble holding up.

 

[Creeper]

I don't think Disney released the movie to reduce her compensation. I think they did it to boost subscriptions for their streaming service. Regardless, the reason does not matter. All that matters is what her contract says.

If the contract does not forbid the release of the movie on Disney's streaming service, her only other argument would have to be malice - or the claim they did it so they wouldn't have to pay her as much. That will be a hard argument to win.

What Disney has to worry about is losing her altogether in a personal feud, assuming they had any plans of making movies with her in the future.

 

[Runwildboys]

Scarlett needs support. Soooo, I am willing to sacrifice my time and support her body parts that she is having trouble holding up.

I already tried that. She could only hold my weight as I piggy backed on her for a minute or two. If you're less than 200 pounds, you might get a half hour of cupping.

 

[Runwildboys]

I don't think Disney released the movie to reduce her compensation. I think they did it to boost subscriptions for their streaming service. Regardless, the reason does not matter. All that matters is what her contract says.

If the contract does not forbid the release of the movie on Disney's streaming service, her only other argument would have to be malice - or the claim they did it so they wouldn't have to pay her as much. That will be a hard argument to win.

What Disney has to worry about is losing her altogether in a personal feud, assuming they had any plans of making movies with her in the future.

I think they're done with her as Black Widow, and I got the impression it was in her contract that they were only releasing in theaters at first, but I could be wrong.

 

[DasTex]

Sure hope she gets compensated for all that hard work making a movie where:

Someone else writes her lines
Someone else gives her direction on what to do
Someone else does any physical stunts where she might get hurt
Someone else does all her makeup and hair
Someone else lays out her clothes and what to wear
Someone else cleans her clothes when when not working
Someone else provides food and shelter for her
Someone else provides travel arrangements for her
Someone else edits everything to make it look good

Sounds exhausting...poor thing

 

[Runwildboys]

Sure hope she gets compensated for all that hard work making a movie where:

Someone else writes her lines
Someone else gives her direction on what to do
Someone else does any physical stunts where she might get hurt
Someone else does all her makeup and hair
Someone else lays out her clothes and what to wear
Someone else cleans her clothes when when not working
Someone else provides food and shelter for her
Someone else provides travel arrangements for her
Someone else edits everything to make it look good

Sounds exhausting...poor thing

And yet, a lot of people pay to watch it, just because it's her.

 

[JD_KaPow]

It's amazing how many experts on entertainment contract law, who are fully conversant with the details of this contract, we have on here.

 

[DasTex]

And yet, a lot of people pay to watch it, just because it's her.

Doubt it - they could have put a unk actress as Black Widow and she still would have been highly successful due to the story the MCU gave everyone. My entire family has enjoyed the heck out of this story they've put together - not once did I feel, wow they hit it out of the park with Johansson as Black Widow. I'm guessing I'm not the only one with those feelings.

 

[Jammer]

I watched a lawyer on YouTube explaining the contract and from the looks of it she has a strong case. The main language is the film would be released in wide theatrical release to be on par with the other Marvel movies (minimum number of screens, minimum time in theaters, etc.) Said nothing about streaming services or any other way to watch the movie.

 

[Jammer]

Sure hope she gets compensated for all that hard work making a movie where:

Someone else writes her lines
Someone else gives her direction on what to do
Someone else does any physical stunts where she might get hurt
Someone else does all her makeup and hair
Someone else lays out her clothes and what to wear
Someone else cleans her clothes when when not working
Someone else provides food and shelter for her
Someone else provides travel arrangements for her
Someone else edits everything to make it look good

Sounds exhausting...poor thing

Oh, like every other big name actor?