Scarlett Johansson and the Walt Disney Co. have quietly settled their contract dispute over Marvel’s Black Widow, with the actress withdrawing her $50 million lawsuit over a theatrical release that she felt was undermined by the company’s simultaneous streaming service debut.
Terms of the resolution were not disclosed, but the actress released a joint statement with Disney Studios chairman Alan Bergman late Thursday saying that the issue between the media giant and her Periwinkle Entertainment had been put to rest.
“I am happy to have resolved our differences with Disney. I’m incredibly proud of the work we’ve done together over the years and have greatly enjoyed my creative relationship with the team. I look forward to continuing our collaboration in years to come,” Johansson’s statement said.
Bergman’s remarks alluded to an upcoming project with Johansson, based on a Disney theme park attraction. “I’m very pleased that we have been able to come to a mutual agreement with Scarlett Johansson regarding Black Widow. We appreciate her contributions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and look forward to working together on a number of upcoming projects, including Disney’s Tower of Terror.”
It is rare for a legal dispute between talent and a studio to reach the lawsuit phase, especially with a company as averse to public in-fighting as Marvel, which has made healthy talent relations a key part of its business model. The breach of contract issue arose after the stand-alone Black Widow movie, long delayed by the pandemic lockdown, was finally released simultaneously in theaters and as a premium purchase on the Disney+ streaming service.
Johansson contended that offering an in-home option undermined the box office earnings of the film, which in turn cost her back-end earnings her lawsuit estimated at around $50 million.
“It’s no secret that Disney is releasing films like Black Widow directly onto Disney+ to increase subscribers and thereby boost the company’s stock price—and that it’s hiding behind COVID-19 as a pretext to do so,” Johansson’s attorney, John Berlinski, said in a statement to Vanity Fair when the lawsuit was filed in late July. “But ignoring the contracts of the artists responsible for the success of its films in furtherance of this short-sighted strategy violates their rights and we look forward to proving as much in court. This will surely not be the last case where Hollywood talent stands up to Disney and makes it clear that, whatever the company may pretend, it has a legal obligation to honor its contracts.”
Disney fired back with an unusually sharp counter, revealing what the actress had been paid up front for the performance, and alleging that she was valuing earnings over audience safety. “There is no merit whatsoever to this filing,” a Disney spokesperson said in a statement released to Deadline. “The lawsuit is especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Disney has fully complied with Ms. Johansson’s contract and furthermore, the release of Black Widow on Disney+ with Premier Access has significantly enhanced her ability to earn additional compensation on top of the $20M she has received to date.”
Now, the statements are far more restrained as both parties seek to put the matter behind them. The lawsuit was seen as a challenge to the way studios have tried to leverage theatrical films to bolster their streaming initiatives, but the dissolution of the dispute means no precedent will be established. The matter will now be left for talent, their representatives, and the studios to resolve—behind closed doors, if they can.
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