Disney filed Friday a motion to send Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit to arbitration in New York.
Disney lawyers claimed that Johansson's legal team and Johansson evaded an arbitration agreement for 2019.
Johansson's lawyers responded that Disney filed this motion out of fear of litigation.
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Variety reported that Disney filed a motion late Friday night to bring the ongoing lawsuit between Scarlett Johansson, the "Black Widow" actress, and her lawyers into arbitration.
Insider has seen the motion. According to it, Disney claims Periwinkle Entertainment Inc. was Johansson’s entertainment company and that they violated an agreement that any claims regarding Johansson’s work on "Black Widow” would be confidentially submitted to Disney in New York.
"In a futile effort to evade [arbitration] (and generate publicity through a public filing), Periwinkle excluded Marvel as a party to this lawsuitsubstituting instead its parent company Disney under contract-interference theories," Disney attorney Daniel Petrocelli said in the motion.
Petrocelli called Johansson's efforts to make the lawsuit public "gamesmanship," according the motion.
According to the motion, Disney fulfilled its promise to debut the film on "no lower than 1,500 screens" and that the film debuted on over 30,000 screens in July. This refutes Johansson’s claims of interference and breach.
Insider was told by John Berlinski, Scarlett Johansson's attorney, that Disney initially responded to the litigation with a misogynistic attack on Scarlett Johansson.
Johansson publicly sued Disney, the parent company to Marvel Studios that produced "Black Widow," earlier this month. Johansson claimed that her contract was breached by Disney+ and the simultaneous release of the film in theaters and on Disney+'s streaming platform, Disney+, and that this led to a decrease in her box-office earnings.
Black Widow earned $158 million during its global opening weekend. This does not include streaming earnings. Although it performed well for a film that was released during the COVID-19 epidemic, it did not reach the same level as Marvel Studios' pre-pandemic numbers. Johansson's agents also claimed that Disney tried to "weaponize" her success by disclosing her earnings for the film.
"Why is Disney so afraid to litigate this case in public?" Berlinski spoke with Insider. Because it knew that Marvel's promises to Black Widow a theatrical release "like its other movies" had nothing to do with guaranteeing Disney wouldn't cannibalize box-office receipts to increase Disney+ subscriptions. We are proud to present the overwhelming evidence to prove that this is what actually happened.
Producers, actors, directors, and producers have all voiced their disapproval at the way streaming giants like Disney+, Hbo Max, and others have profited from the so-called streaming wars. Johansson's suit opens up new opportunities for studio-talent relationships and deals.
Berlinksi stated to Insider previously that this lawsuit will not be the "last case in which Hollywood talent stands up against Disney and makes clear that, regardless of what the company may claim, it has a legal responsibility to honor its contracts."
