‘Black Widow’ Scarlett Johansson Sues Disney Over OTT Release Claiming Losses Worth ₹371 Crore; Studio Labels The Lawsuit Meritless – Deets Inside(Photo Credit: Facebook)
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Scarlett Johansson starring Black Widow released a while ago and is raving on theatres as well as the OTT platform. The fans are going gaga over her performance but sadly, Johansson wasn’t satisfied with the release format and hence filed a lawsuit against Disney on Thursday alleging a contract breach, However, the production house is calling it ‘no merits whatsoever to this filing’. Scroll below to read the scoop.
Johansson was reportedly guaranteed a theatrical release as the major part of her salary was tied to the box-office success of the film.
According to multiple sources close to Variety, Scarlett Johansson suffered a loss of $50 million (around ₹371 crores) and hence filed a lawsuit against the production company that read, “Disney intentionally induced Marvel’s breach of the agreement, without justification, in order to prevent Ms. Johansson from realising the full benefit of her bargain with Marvel,” as reported by Wall Street Journal.
Disney was quick to acknowledge Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit remarks against them and released a statement that read, “There is no merit whatsoever to this filing. The lawsuit is especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
“Disney has fully complied with Ms. Johansson’s contract and furthermore, the release of ‘Black Widow’ on Disney+ with Premier Access has significantly enhanced her ability to earn additional compensation on top of the $20 [million] she has received to date,” the statement further read.
The primary reason for releasing Black Widow theatrically and on OTT is due to the ongoing global pandemic. A lot of production houses are still holding onto big banner films because the theatres are still struggling to survive the pandemic.
Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow was initially scheduled to release in May this year but Disney couldn’t release it because the world was going through a severe crisis and was hit by the second wave of COVID-19.
However, they finally released in the US and a few other countries on Jul 9, 2021, in theatres as well as Disney+.
