Black Widow Penetrates The Box Office, Scarlett Johansson Actually Sues Disney

JAKARTA - Black Widow managed to set a box office record in the pandemic era. The film earned $80 million US dollars (Rp1.1 trillion) for screenings in the United States.

Citing Deadline today, July 12, Walt Disney announced they had raised more than US$60 million (Rp869.4 billion) through Disney+ Premiere Access. Combined, Black Widow earned $100 million (Rp 1.4 trillion) and became the first film to earn this amount.

However, Disney's decision to release Black Widow on Disney Plus and theaters simultaneously has sparked a legal battle with Scarlett Johansson, who plays Black Widow.

In a lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Johansson's attorney alleges that the star's contract was breached when the studio chose not to debut the film exclusively in theaters, a move chosen to suppress ticket sales from the spin-off." Avengers".

Much of Johansson's compensation related to "Black Widow's" box office performance - if it hits certain benchmarks - is the bonuses it will go to.

"Disney intentionally made Marvel violate the agreement, without justification, to prevent Ms. Johansson from realizing the full benefits of her contract with Marvel," Johansson's lawsuit said.

Disney announced in March that Black Widow would premiere simultaneously on the studio's subscription-based streaming service, at a premium of US$30, as well as on the big screen.

Shortly after its debut, the National Association of Theater Owners, the industry's premier trade organization, confirmed the simultaneous release of Black Widow in theaters and streaming weighed on Disney's revenue per viewer as long as the film was showing. However, the lawsuit notes that Disney shares rose after the company disclosed the premium price for Black Widow.

"Disney chose to appease Wall Street investors and make a profit, rather than allowing its Marvel subsidiary to comply with the agreement," the lawsuit reads.

Unsurprisingly, Disney's breach of contract managed to draw millions of fans away from theaters and toward its streaming service, Disney Plus.

The Wall Street Journal, which broke the news of the lawsuit, reported sources close to Johansson estimated that the decision to release the film simultaneously on Disney Plus resulted in the loss of $50 million in bonuses.

Johansson's lawsuit comes as a new distribution paradigm and the COVID-19 pandemic reshape the way A-list actors are paid for their work. Many top actors include backend profit participation as part of their contracts.

But the rise of streaming services, such as Netflix, has removed those forms of compensation and the decisions of traditional film studios, such as Warner Bros. and Disney, to release films with their own in-house subscription services are further changing this old way of doing things.

When Warner Bros. chose to send its entire film roster to HBO Max, realizing that theaters only operated at limited capacity throughout the year, the studio had to pay tens of millions of dollars to the film's stars in compensation.

That has resulted in actors like Will Smith, Denzel Washington, and Keanu Reeves getting their full support in the films that Warner Bros. is releasing on its new service.

If successful, the lawsuit filed by Johansson could prompt more actors to seek additional compensation for films migrating to streaming services and could lead to agents including more stringent language in contracts regarding compensation if exclusive theatrical releases are compromised or skipped. Johansson's attorney suggested that his lawsuit could be a precedent setter.

"It's no secret that Disney is releasing films like Black Widow directly to Disney Plus to increase subscribers and thereby increase the company's stock price - and is hiding behind COVID-19 as a pretext for doing so," said John Berlinski, Johansson's attorney.

"But ignoring the contracts of artists responsible for the success of their films as a continuation of this shortsighted strategy violates their rights and we hope to prove that in court. This is definitely not the last case where Hollywood talent has challenged Disney and made it clear that, whatever the company may have done, he has a legal obligation to honor his contract."

Johansson's legal team said representatives for the actress were concerned that Black Widow would debut on Disney Plus even before the coronavirus brought life to a halt.

As part of the lawsuit, they shared an email from the star's management group asking the studio to guarantee that "Black Widow" will premiere exclusively in theaters.

In response, Marvel Chief Counsel Dave Galluzzi promised if there was a release change in theaters, adding, "We understand that if those plans change we will need to discuss this with you and reach an understanding as the deal is based on a series of (very large) box office bonuses. ."