Black Widow star Scarlett Johansson recently filed a lawsuit against Disney after losing out on bonuses she was expecting to receive had the Marvel Studios movie hit certain thresholds at the box office. The studio's decision to release Black Widow on Disney+ at the same time as in theaters obviously affected its earnings ability, but they maintain that the actress has been paid what she's owed.
Since details on the lawsuit were revealed, the narrative online has seen the majority come to Johansson's defence, with the main argument being that there's an element of gender disparity here.
That's something her legal team has also zeroed in on, and regardless of whether that is indeed the case, Disney's attorney Daniel Petrocelli recently shared some fighting words with Variety. "It is obvious that this is a highly orchestrated PR campaign to achieve an outcome that is not obtainable in the lawsuit," he tells the trade. "No amount of public pressure can change or obscure the explicit contractual commitments. The written contract is clear as a bell."
Johansson's deal called for Black Widow to be released on a minimum of 1500 screens, and Disney met that with 9000 screens in the U.S. and 30,000 worldwide. Petrocelli argues that COVID forced their hand with that Disney+ Premier Access debut, and that the $29.99 Digital price-tag was beneficial to her because that revenue would be factored into whatever she ultimately received.
"We treated Disney Premier Access (revenue) like box office for the purposes of the bonus requirements in the contract. That only enhanced the economics for Ms. Johansson," Petrocelli added.
Clearly, this is only going to get increasingly nasty with neither side backing down. By the time all is said and done, though, chances are Johansson won't ever work for Disney again. Should Disney just pay her what she's "owed" and make the situation right? It sounds like Kevin Feige and Bob Iger feel that way, but the studio's new CEO, Bob Chapek, doesn't appear to agree...