Scarlett Johansson’s time in the MCU may be over, but she’s not done with Disney yet. The Black Widow The star, who played Natasha Romanoff in nine Marvel Cinematic Universe films over the past 11 years, is suing Disney for an alleged breach of contract.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Johansson filed a lawsuit in the Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday, arguing that Disney’s decision to release Black Widow on its Disney + streaming service on the same day as its theatrical release, it violated its contract.
Johansson says her contract guaranteed that the film would be released exclusively in theaters and that her salary was based largely on the film’s box office performance. The simultaneous release on Disney + via Premier Access reportedly will cause Johansson to lose $ 50 million.
According to his lawsuit, “Disney intentionally induced Marvel to violate the agreement, without justification, in order to prevent Ms. Johansson from realizing the full benefit of her agreement with Marvel.”
A copy of the lawsuit obtained by Deadline reveals that in May 2019, with Disney debuting its Disney + streaming service in November, Johansson sought assurances that Black Widow it would remain an exclusive theatrical release. Its representatives received the following response from Marvel’s Chief Counsel:
“We fully understand Scarlett’s willingness to make the film and
his entire deal is based on the premise that the film would be
widely distributed in theaters like our other images. We understand
that if the plan changes, we should discuss it with you
and come to an understanding as the agreement is based on a series of
Box office bonuses (very large).
Despite this assurance from Marvel, the lawsuit claims that when Disney announced a daily Disney + Premier Access release of Black Widow in March 2021, Johansson’s representatives were “ignored” when they tried to negotiate with Marvel.
Additionally, he notes that other studios such as Warner Bros. made up for their talent when they decided to do a day-and-date PVOD theatrical release. Warner Bros. reportedly paid $ 200 million to talent and agents after announcing that all of its 2021 theatrical releases would receive a day-and-date streaming release on HBO Max.
Black Widow released simultaneously in theaters and on Disney + Premier Access on July 9, 2021. In its opening weekend, it grossed $ 80.3 million at the box office and an additional $ 60 million via Disney + Premier Access. But movie owners blame its steep decline at the box office in the weeks following its streaming release. On its second weekend, Black Widow fell -67%, the most marked decline of the second weekend for an MCU film released by Disney.
On Friday, Disney responded to the lawsuit in a statement saying it “fully complied with Ms. Johansson’s contract and, furthermore, the release of Black Widow on Disney + with Premier Access has greatly improved his ability to earn additional compensation beyond the $ 20 million he has received to date. “
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