Scarlett Johansson Sues Disney for Breach of Contract Over Black Widow Release

[R.J. MacReady]

Scarlett Johansson Sues Disney for Breach of Contract Over ‘Black Widow’ Release

"Black Widow" star Scarlett Johansson has filed a lawsuit against Disney.

variety.com

Wow, this got ugly quick.
I think the sequel might be in trouble.....lol


Disney's response:


"There is no merit whatsoever to this filing," a spokesperson for the Walt Disney Company said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE. "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,"





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[ill]

I get Disney's decision with the Delta out there and the risk that theaters will shut down again. It is probably too late to say "just kidding, we will release it later" since they have already given a release date.

ScarJo's reasoning:
In a lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, attorneys for Johansson allege that the star’s contract was breached when the studio opted not to debut the film exclusively in theaters, a move they claim depressed ticket sales for the Avengers spinoff. Much of Johansson’s compensation was tied to the box office performance of “Black Widow” — if it hit certain benchmarks, bonuses would kick in.

“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 suit reads.

 

[R.J. MacReady]

I get Disney's decision with the Delta out there and the risk that theaters will shut down again. It is probably too late to say "just kidding, we will release it later" since they have already given a release date.

ScarJo's reasoning:
In a lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, attorneys for Johansson allege that the star’s contract was breached when the studio opted not to debut the film exclusively in theaters, a move they claim depressed ticket sales for the Avengers spinoff. Much of Johansson’s compensation was tied to the box office performance of “Black Widow” — if it hit certain benchmarks, bonuses would kick in.

“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 suit reads.

"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,"


You see the way that reads ....This is Disney saying we paid you enough ..we don't give a shit what your contract says.
And they listed the 20 million number in the hope she loses public support.

I'm really looking forward to Disney losing this lawsuit and I hope this becomes a huge PR nightmare for them.



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[ill]

"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,"


You see the way that reads ....This is Disney saying we paid you enough ..we don't give a shit what your contract says.
And they listed the 20 million number in the hope she loses public support.

I'm really looking forward to Disney losing this lawsuit and I hope this becomes a huge PR nightmare for them.



.

I agree, she is making plenty off this franchise.

but I also agree that a contract is a contract and it sounds like Disney is looking for a loophole.

 

[RobBase]

"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,"


You see the way that reads ....This is Disney saying we paid you enough ..we don't give a shit what your contract says.
And they listed the 20 million number in the hope she loses public support.

I'm really looking forward to Disney losing this lawsuit and I hope this becomes a huge PR nightmare for them.



.

Disney has been a wolf in sheep’s clothing for a long time.

 

[flyerhawk]

Seems like Disney could have avoided this if they just gave ScarJo a little apology money. They did it with some of their other movies.

 

[flyerhawk]

I agree, she is making plenty off this franchise.

but I also agree that a contract is a contract and it sounds like Disney is looking for a loophole.

Yeah. No good or bad guy here. Just a generic contract dispute.

 

[ill]

Seems like Disney could have avoided this if they just gave ScarJo a little apology money. They did it with some of their other movies.

likely what will happen.

plans were to release in theaters and that would have been fine...

but Disney needs to figure out how to maximize their earnings and releasing to Disney+ has been a great solution.

sorry you don't have that in your contract, Scarlett.

 

[ill]

Disney has been a wolf in sheep’s clothing for a long time.

I don't think they are wolves on this one.

I think they tried multiple times to release this ONLY in theaters but kept running into COVID roadblocks, which is why the release has been moved so many times. They finally said "this is the date" and Delta hit. Too late to change the date again, it's already rolled out.

so they need to maximize profits for the movie and release it on Disney+ as well.

Scarlett just doesn't make money on that, apparently and she is not happy about it.

 

[flyerhawk]

likely what will happen.

plans were to release in theaters and that would have been fine...

but Disney needs to figure out how to maximize their earnings and releasing to Disney+ has been a great solution.

sorry you don't have that in your contract, Scarlett.

Her contract stipulated an exclusive release in movie theaters. Disney straight up violated the contract. Disney is arguing that Covid created a force majeure event. I doubt that will hold water in court though.

 

[Clayton]

Honestly, I think this is a bad look for the actress. A lot of people lost with Covid. Disney gave people a movie and allowed them to stay at home. I do think ScarJo is in the right from a contract standpoint but this kinda makes her look like a merc.

I'll still watch her movies and Disney movies regardless.

 

[gob]

Honestly, I think this is a bad look for the actress. A lot of people lost with Covid. Disney gave people a movie and allowed them to stay at home. I do think ScarJo is in the right from a contract standpoint but this kinda makes her look like a merc.

I'll still watch her movies and Disney movies regardless.

Eh, unless Disney offered her something, and she declined, I'm viewing them in a worse light.

But at the end of the day, it's a greedy company bickering with a rich as fuck person, so fuck em both.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

Honestly, I think this is a bad look for the actress. A lot of people lost with Covid. Disney gave people a movie and allowed them to stay at home. I do think ScarJo is in the right from a contract standpoint but this kinda makes her look like a merc.

I'll still watch her movies and Disney movies regardless.

I mean, yeah she probably doesn't need the money(ok definitely doesn't).

But a contract is a contract.

Disney looks worse. Both sides would be considered money hungry, only 1 side would be breaching a contracted agreement as part of their greed.

 

[Clayton]

I mean, yeah she probably doesn't need the money(ok definitely doesn't).

But a contract is a contract.

Disney looks worse. Both sides would be considered money hungry, only 1 side would be breaching a contracted agreement as part of their greed.

I don't know. Maybe a have a soft spot for anyone going the extra mile when there is a pandemic going on. I don't see it that way at all.

Where Disney looks bad is the general treatment of their female characters in the MCU. The Black Widow movie should've been made five or six years ago. Same with Captain Marvel. So I do get why people would generally not take Disney's side here.

I also think Scarlett Johansson has chosen to be in some pretty great movies. I think she'll be the rare actress that will be able to maintain a career for another decade.

 

[BigKen]

Disney hired her because she's not afraid to show any part of her tremendous physique. She's made see through outfits a must in any heroine movie. Disney historically has cornholed actors and actresses and been able to get away with it. Covid isn't the problem for theatres. it a major hit for Disney Parks and they've had to pretty much shut down. They've laid off more than 80% of their employees but the biggest problem is this: People have found better and much less expensive ways to spend time with their kids. Teens think Disney suck and and Universal has pounced.

It's a money grab and Scarlett is about to drill Disney a new asshole about the size of the Pennsylvania Coal Mines.

 

[wilwhite]

I don't think they are wolves on this one.

I think they tried multiple times to release this ONLY in theaters but kept running into COVID roadblocks, which is why the release has been moved so many times. They finally said "this is the date" and Delta hit. Too late to change the date again, it's already rolled out.

so they need to maximize profits for the movie and release it on Disney+ as well.

Scarlett just doesn't make money on that, apparently and she is not happy about it.

If you need to do something different from what a contract says, normal practice is to negotiate an addendum.

 

[Clayton]

Disney hired her because she's not afraid to show any part of her tremendous physique.

Thankfully she can act because Winter Soldier is still the best MCU movie imo and her ability to act is part of it.

I do expect the actress to either win a settlement or win outright.

 

[ill]

Eh, unless Disney offered her something, and she declined, I'm viewing them in a worse light.

But at the end of the day, it's a greedy company bickering with a rich as fuck person, so fuck em both.

I don't see them trying to maximize their earnings as them being greedy....that's just them doing business.

they tried multiple times to just do the theater release but at this point it is going to fuck up whatever phase they are in for the MCU

 

[R.J. MacReady]

“Just as these news outlets predicted and Ms. Johansson feared, the Picture’s box office receipts for its opening weekend were significantly below the opening-weekend performance of Marvel’s previous films and have ‘suffered [a] steeper-than-normal decline’ since then.’ In short, Disney’s strategy to lure viewers away from the theatres and toward Disney+ worked,”

....the lawsuit states.



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[ill]

“Just as these news outlets predicted and Ms. Johansson feared, the Picture’s box office receipts for its opening weekend were significantly below the opening-weekend performance of Marvel’s previous films and have ‘suffered [a] steeper-than-normal decline’ since then.’ In short, Disney’s strategy to lure viewers away from the theatres and toward Disney+ worked,”

....the lawsuit states.



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releasing on Disney+ has been very successful for many movies so far.

she should have been onboard with that idea