Marvel’s “Black Widow” was a surprising success to many Marvel fans, despite the uneasiness many still feel about gathering in public places such as movie theaters. However, tensions between Scarlett Johansson and Disney are developing into a significant court battle between the famous Avengers actress and one of the most influential companies in the movie business.
Over the summer, Marvel finally released Johansson’s swan song in the eponymously titled film, “Black Widow.”
Along with stars like David Harbour, Rachel Weisz and Florence Pugh, the movie details Natasha’s history with her adoptive family and the broken relationships she left behind as she comes into conflict with the Red Room and the mysterious Taskmaster.
The movie became a smash hit, with fans loving the performances of Johansson and Pugh and the dynamic that they bring to their characters. However, in the aftermath of the success of “Black Widow,” Johansson has decided to sue the company that played a significant part in her career.
According to the “Hollywood Reporter,” Johansson has decided to sue Disney over a breach of contract in how they released “Black Widow.”
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, movie tycoons like the Disney company and their competitors in Warner Bros. and Dreamworks have had to find a new way to release their movies before the hype for them eventually fades away. Warner Bros. has decided to do same-day releases on their streaming services like HBO Max for free. Dreamworks is doing paid releases on other services like the recently introduced Peacock for all NBC customers.
Disney has decided to do something along those lines and did a same-day release for “Black Widow” in both theaters and on Disney+ as part of their Premier Access line of movies.
In other words, if you wanted to watch movies like “Mulan” or “Raya and the Last Dragon,” you could purchase them under the Disney+ Premier Access line for $29.99. A Premier Access purchase makes the viewer the owner of a copy of the movie and able to access the film anytime until the movie is released to the public a few months later.
In the eyes of Johansson, however, this move was a breach of her “Black Widow” contract.
Johansson and her lawyers claim that, due to the pandemic, the movie’s opening weekend numbers were much lower than typical Marvel box office openings and that Disney’s use of the Disney+ Premier Access line further played a significant role in the low box office earnings.
Because of COVID-19 and the delta variant, movie companies have continued to release new movies on these streaming services while ensuring that the stars of their films were compensated for their roles. However, according to Johansson and her lawyers, Disney did not attempt to make sure that Johansson was paid and had a fair deal.
Disney has fired back at Johansson’s claims, stating that they have no merit and hold “callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to Variety. They even have gone so far as to “weaponize” Johansson’s success, using her acting and business skills as if they were ashamed of her performance as Natasha, and are currently also planning legal action.
Johansson’s recent move to sue the company that significantly impacted her career has inspired other actors to do the same.
Emma Stone, who earlier this year starred as Cruella de Vil in Disney’s “Cruella,” is planning to move forward with legal action over the release of her recent blockbuster. Another actor, Gerard Butler from “Olympus Has Fallen,” is also planning to sue Millenium for the money he should be compensated for his role in the 2013 blockbuster.
With Disney and Johansson planning to head towards legal action and the conflict inspiring fellow actors to sue other media companies over contract disputes, can this wrong be reconciled? Or is this the beginning of a new wave of legal action that will animate Hollywood?
