The legal battle between Disney and Scarlett Johansson continues, and in a very public way. The actress filed her lawsuit in July alleging that they used the premiere of Black widow (don’t miss our review) to promote the streaming platform Disney Plus, reducing her reach at the box office, thus lowering the bonus for the actress.
Few hours later Disney it responded with a public statement that surprised many with its forms and a different tone from that used by the multinational. The actress’s lawyers responded immediately, explaining that Johansson has been “shamelessly and falsely accused.”
The drama increased after it was known that Kevin Feige, President of Marvel studios, is “furious” with the reaction to the lawsuit of the company he works for, since he was one of the top executives against a hybrid premiere. To that add the comments of Bob chapek, Disney CEO defending the premiere of Black widow on Disney Plus.
How much has ‘Black Widow’ raised on Disney Plus?
Disney is asking that the claim be resolved through a private arbitration process, a common means of handling disputes in Hollywood. Deadline has revealed that it was requested on August 10 to try to celebrate it on October 15. There was no response in court from Scarlett Johansson’s legal team.
As part of the defense to proceed to an arbitration process, the attorneys of Disney have sent a document where, among many other arguments, the collection figure of Black widow on Disney Plus.
As of August 15, 2021, the film has grossed more than $ 367 million at the global box office and more than $ 125 million on streaming and download platforms.
That is, almost $ 500 million, combined. In this way they try to show that the film has had a more successful premiere than other productions of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including Thor: The Dark World, Ant-Man or Guardians of the Galaxy. Through the document, Disney also agrees to credit premium access earnings (the additional payment to be able to see Black widow on Disney Plus) as part of the computation for any additional compensation. “Although Marvel is not contractually bound to do so“.
The plea of Scarlett Johansson is that, when brand new Black widow in theaters and on Disney Plus at the same time, the box office decreases. In addition, the film is used as a promotional vehicle for the streaming platform. According to the contract, the bonus that the actress receives is tied to the performance of the collection in projection rooms.
The response from Scarlett Johansson’s lawyers
Following the release of the documents and Disney’s proposal to go to private arbitration, Scarlett Johansson’s legal team has responded:
After an initial response to the lawsuit with misogynistic attacks on Scarlett Johansson, Disney is now trying to hide its misbehavior with confidential arbitration. Why so afraid to litigate this case in public? Because Marvel’s promises to give Black widow a regular theatrical release, like his other films, should have ensured that box office earnings are not cannibalized in order to win subscriptions for Disney Plus.
But that’s what ended up happening. We are looking forward to the opportunity to present the wealth of evidence that this is what happened.
Disney for its part argues that the contract has not been breached. According to the study, the contract did not establish that the premiere had to be exclusive in the cinema. Only that it was wide and throughout the United States. As they explain, Black widow it premiered in more than 9,000 theaters in the country. Thus, the clause that establishes that it should be screened in no less than 1,500 theaters would be fulfilled. “Even though its release date coincides with a global public health crisis.”