The simultaneous premiere of the film Black Widow in cinemas and on the Disney + service may have deliberately reduced the actress’ fee and opened one of the main issues of modern cinema.
First of all, we have to remind you to take care of how you will watch The Black Widow because it is currently the most dangerous film. It is full of action and some unexpected turns, with so many mixed emotions. If you are a Marvel fan, you will really love it.
But if you are not a Marvel fan, it would probably not be your cup of tea, as there is a storyline that follows with all of the other Marvel movies.
The Black Widow began airing on July 9 in theaters and had a great start with $ 80 million in earnings during the first week in the United States, but suffered the worst drop in the second week of screening compared to all other “Marvel” movies. The film earned much better on the box office, even so good that Black Widow is on its way to being the most cost-effective film since the coronavirus pandemic.
The Black Widow, like other major Disney productions, was shown simultaneously in theaters and from day one on the Disney + streaming service with a special additional subscription of $ 30.
This infuriated lead actress Scarlett Johansson, who even sued Disney through her law firm for fraud and unpaid fees, which could reach $ 50 million, as she was guaranteed extra earnings solely from ticket sales at the cinema, not through streaming services.
“The main actress’ contract implies a percentage of the earnings from the sale of cinema tickets in the format realized in the cinema, not on the streaming platform,” it is stated, among other things, in the 18-page lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles at the end of July. Also, one of the conclusions of the lawsuit is that the actress, as well as other people who worked on the film, were contractually promised an exclusive cinema screening of the film, which did not happen because the film went online the same day, not 90 or 120 days.
The lawsuit also alleges that Disney+ knowingly violated the contract, because he knew that by showing the film online, they would save an extremely large amount of money, which he would otherwise owe the actress.
A Disney spokesman said after receiving the lawsuit that it was a very sad move by the actress at this time of the global pandemic when everyone is fighting the virus and trying to protect their health, but also that the company does not owe anything to Scarlett Johansson because she already received $ 20 million from the Black Widow, as well as that the streaming platform gives her the opportunity to earn above that. He did not explain how the actress could earn from the Disney + platform if she sued them for not paying her anything, but it was said that her contract was respected in every sense.
It will be interesting to see how the court will treat the sentence “the film will have an exclusive cinema screening”, which is guaranteed to the actress by the contract because this whole lawsuit depends on it. Disney believes that this way of showing is outdated and that movies will be watched more and more online, just as Warner Bros. thinks. in collaboration with the HBO Max system, as well as making it clear to the actress and her team that due to the pandemic, plans will be changed regarding the way the film is shown.
