It's been eight months since the last major holy shit story in pop culture. Now Scarlett Johansson has announced that she filed a lawsuit against Disney alleging that the studio violated her contract by releasing Black Widow on Disney+'s expensive Premier Access tier the same day as it released the film. According to WSJ, her contract promised her an exclusive theatrical release. The salary she received was based in large measure on the film's box office performance, which has declined significantly since July, despite Disney's claims that it started very well. Johansson is expected to lose $50 million in box office revenue due to Black Widow being on Disney+.AdvertisementThis suit could have huge implications considering that many major Hollywood players strongly opposed the way that studios dumped their films onto streaming platforms following the COVID-19 pandemic. WSJ quotes Johanssons attorneys saying that this won't be the last time that Hollywood talent stands up against Disney in this manner. Johansson was also concerned that Black Widow would be moved to Disney+ before the pandemic. Her representatives tried to reach Disney and Marvel for a new deal, but were unsuccessful. WSJ quotes Johanssons attorneys as saying that they believe this will not be the last case where Hollywood talent stands up to Disney.Another holy shit is that Johansson, like every other Marvel Studios movie that she was a part of, has been active in promoting Black Widow. This prequel to Avengers: Endgame was her last movie contract. However, the possibility of Johansson burning this bridge after a decade as a soldier for Marvel is a clear indicator of how serious she is about this issue and how big this could be. Disney being slammed like this by one its biggest stars could cause some anxiety for other studios who have been actively adopting streaming or it could remind them to make these deals before they happen.
