Star of the Marvel superhero film “Black Widow”, Scarlett Johansson is taking Walt Disney to court over allegations that the company breached her contract when it offered the movie on streaming at the same time it played in theaters.
The actress argued that the dual release strategy of Black Widow had reduced her compensation, which was based partly on box office receipts from what was supposed to be an exclusive run in cinemas.
Johansson’s lawsuit claims Disney wanted to steer audiences toward Disney+, “where it could keep the revenues for itself while simultaneously growing the Disney+ subscriber base, a proven way to boost Disney’s stock price”.
“Disney wanted to substantially devalue Ms Johansson’s agreement and thereby enrich itself,” said the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages to be determined at trial.”
According to the lawsuit,having the movie of Disney+ allegedly cost Scarlett over $50 million. Days after the premiere, ticket sales for the movie dropped faster than most of marvels previous movies.
Disney, in its reply, said there was “no merit” to the lawsuit, stating that it had complied with her contract.
It added in a statement that the release of the movie on its streaming platform had “significantly enhanced her [Johansson’s] ability to earn additional compensation on top of the $20m she has received to date”.
The movie reportedly earned $80 million dollars at the US box office and $78 million oversees during its opening weekend. It earned about $60 million in Disney+ streams where subscribers were offered $30 at home purchases.
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