Scarlett Johansson sued the Walt Disney Company because Black Widow was made available on Disney+ the same day as its theatrical release. She claims she was promised an exclusive release in theaters.Johansson's attorneys filed a complaint to Los Angeles County Superior Court Thursday. They are asking for unspecified punitive and monetary damages. Johansson claims that Johansson's simultaneous release of the first solo movie featuring her Avengers character violated that promise and cost Johansson a lot of money. According to sources, the Wall Street Journal reported that the actor spent more than $50 million on Disney+ in order to release the film.In a statement to BuzzFeed News, John Berlinski, Johansson's lawyer, stated that Disney plans to release films such as Black Widow directly onto Disney+ in order to increase subscribers and boost its stock price. He also said that Disney uses Covid-19 to cover this. "But, ignoring the contracts that artists are responsible for the success and promoting this short-sighted strategy is a violation of their rights. We look forward to proving it in court."According to the complaint, Marvel, Johansson and her were able to agree that Black Widow's compensation would "largely be based on 'boxoffice' receipts". To "maximize these receipts and thereby protect her financial interest," the actor made the studio promise that the movie would only be released in theaters. According to her attorneys, Disney, the studio's parent company was aware of the promise and released the movie on Disney+.The complaint claims that "the reasons for this were dual." It alleges that the company wanted to "lure" viewers away from the theater to its streaming service, "where it could keep revenues for itself" as well as grow its subscriber base.
