Scarlett Johanson Says Suing Disney Was “Terrifying”
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Actress Scarlett Johanson, who turns 37 today, finally opened up about her lawsuit against Marvel Studios/Disney stemming from the release of Black Widow back in March.
She says it was terrifying.
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As you may recall, after opening with a $80 million its opening weekend, Black Widow, which was the first of the MCU movies to open the same day and date as it was streaming on Disney+, dropped significantly in the following weeks.
When Disney+ decided to release Widow on the same day as its theatrical release it was in the heart of the nationwide shutdowns and self isolation to prevent the spread of the corona virus during the Covid-19 pandemic.
But by the time Widow was released most of the country was getting back to business.
Johanson sued Disney for breach of contract alleging that her contract was breached when the studio opted not to debut the film exclusively in theaters, a move they claim depressed ticket sales for the Avengers spinoff.
Much of Johanson’s compensation was tied to the box office performance of Black Widow — if it hit certain benchmarks, bonuses would kick in.”
“Disney intentionally induced Marvel’s breach of the agreement, without justification, in order to prevent Ms. Johanson from realizing the full benefit of her bargain with Marvel,” the suit read.
Johanson, who still has a working relationship with Disney, and who just last week announced an unnamed superhero project alongside Marvel Studio’s head Kevin Feige, told Variety, “Going through the Disney lawsuit, when you’re doing something that feels like it’s not been done before, and it feels like it’s uncharted territory, it’s a little … terrifying.”
“You have a lot of doubt. But at the same time, I felt like I was standing up for what was right.”
She also went on to call the support she received from fellow actresses Jamie Lee Curtis and Elizabeth Olsen “everything”, noting, “it can feel very lonely to be in that place. Just knowing that all these strong women were standing up with me, felt like I was doing something that was worth it. It was very touching for me. And it buoyed me for a time that was stressful.”
Black Widow is streaming on Disney+.
