Scarlett Johansson Files Lawsuit Against Disney After Black Widow Release

After the release of Black Widow, actor Scarlett Johansson sue Disney under the terms that Disney is ignoring the contract they had previously signed. The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. The actor’s attorney claimed that Disney is “ignoring the contracts of the artists responsible for the success of its films.”

While Black Widow received critical acclaim as well as love from fans, it held the No. 1 spot in the Box Office for a short while. It has been reported that theatre owners also largely blamed Disney for this “crash” because they immediately made the movie available on the streaming website.

Scarlett Johansson Sue Disney: Details

On July 29, media sources have confirmed that the Marvel star did file a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court. Johansson alleged that her contract was breached when Disney immediately released Black Widow on its streaming service + at the same time as its debut in theaters.

According to court documents obtained, the actor is suing the Walt Disney Company for “intentional interference with contractual relations and inducing breach of contract.”

Johansson’s complaint questioned the action of Disney. Since the pandemic has already disrupted the market of theatre, it was hard to understand why Disney robbed the film’s success through their streaming platform.

The complaint stated: “Why would Disney forgo hundreds of millions of dollars in box office receipts by releasing the Picture in theaters at a time when it knew the theatrical market was ‘weak,’ rather than waiting a few months for that market to recover?”

Johansson’s complaint further stated: “On information and belief, the decision to do so was made at least in part because Disney saw the opportunity to promote its flagship subscription service using the Picture and Ms. Johansson, thereby attracting new paying monthly subscribers, retaining existing ones, and establishing Disney+ as a must-have service in an increasingly competitive marketplace.”

The actor’s legal team also alleged that Johansson’s salary was based partly on the Box Office performance. Therefore, doing poorly at the Box Office would affect the actor directly.

Disney’s Deliberate Action

Questions have often been raised on Disney’s action by other people besides Johansson regarding Black Widow.  As previously mentioned, theatre owners also complained against Disney when it comes to the release of Black Widow. They claimed that this resulted in the worst collapse in MCU history.

Must Read: Theatre Owners Blame Disney For Black Widow’s “Collapse” In Second Week

Johansson’s attorney also seconds the theatre owners’ claims and said that this was a move to increase subscribers for the streaming platform.

“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,” John Berlinski said in a statement to E! News.