Yesterday, news broke that Scarlett Johansson, star of Marvel’s Black Widow, was suing Disney for breach of contract.
The lawsuit alleges that by releasing the film on Disney+ simultaneously with the theatrical release, “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.” Johansson reportedly took a partial back-end deal, in which her salary for the film was derived from the box office sales which, the lawsuit alleges, were undercut by the Disney+ sales. Disney later released a statement calling the lawsuit “sad and distressing.”
Though he has not released an official statement, Marvel President Kevin Feige is reportedly upset with Disney over the situation. Former The Hollywood Reporter editor Matthew Belloni reported in a What I’m Hearing… newsletter that Feige is, “a company man, and not prone to corporate showdowns or shouting matches. But I’m told he’s angry and embarrassed. He lobbied Disney against the day-and-date plan for Black Widow, preferring the big screen exclusivity and not wanting to upset his talent. And then when the sh** hit the fan, the movie started tanking, and Johansson’s team threatened litigation, he wanted Disney to make this right with her. (Disney declined to comment on Feige.)”
Keep checking WDWNT as we learn more about this developing lawsuit.
Its clear that Disney is run by pieces of crap at this point. They just care about the stock price and their bonus and comp. This is the begninning of the end of my fandom of Disney
That’s true of virtually every large corporation at this point. There are some exceptions, sure, but by and large you won’t be disappointed if you assume the worst of these no-talent assclowns.
This feels like a penny-wise, pound-foolish decision
I wish this was the case, but Disney simply makes way too much money and is way too popular. You’d think after how cheap and terrible Disney parks have become the crowds would respond, but no.
The fans will defend Disney as they always have.
And it’ll only just get worse.
At least someone has a brain. Releasing it to streaming at the same time is guaranteed to lose millions. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out, but Chapek the Cheapskate thinks he can cut out the middle man and make the same amount of money streaming. Never mind that you lose repeat ticket-buyers and people will have watch-parties, undercutting that profit even more.