Actress Scarlett Johansson has sued Walt Disney Co. over allegations her contract was breached when the Burbank entertainment and media company released her latest film “Black Widow” in both theaters and through its streaming service, according to media reports.The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP, the law firm representing the actress. according to the Wall Street Journal.The newspaper said that in her suit Johannsson said that her agreement with Disney’s Marvel Entertainment division guaranteed an exclusive theatrical release, and her salary was based in large part on the box office performance of the film.“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 said, according to the Journal.“There is no merit whatsoever to this filing,” Disney said in an unusually fiery statement, according to entertainment trade publication Variety. “The lawsuit is especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.”The company went on to state that the star has already received $20 million for her work and argued that “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," Variety reported, adding that Disney did not provide any information about whether or not Johansson’s pact was renegotiated so that she could share in streaming rental revenue. “Black Widow” was released July 9 and brought in $80 million at the domestic box office and $78 million overseas and generated another $60 million from $30 at-home purchases on the streaming service Disney+ the first weekend, the Journal reported.The decision to put the movie on Disney+ is projected to cost Johansson more than $50 million, a person familiar with details of her contract claimed, according to the Journal.The Wall Street Journal and other media speculated on the impact the lawsuit would have on Hollywood as the big studios release more films on streaming services.“It’s no secret that Disney is releasing films like ‘Black Widow’ directly onto Disney+ to increase subscribers and thereby boost the company’s stock price – and that it’s hiding behind Covid-19 as a pretext to do so,” said John Berlinski, an attorney for Scarlett Johansson, in a statement, according to the Los Angeles Times. “But ignoring the contracts of the artists responsible for the success of its films in furtherance of this short-sighted strategy violates their rights and we look forward to proving as much in court.”Shares of Disney (DIS) closed down 75 cents, or a fraction of a percent, to $178.35 on the New York Stock Exchange, a day in which the Dow Jones closed up 0.4 percent.
Scarlett Johansson Sues Disney Over ‘Black Widow’ Streaming Strategy
