Scarlett Johansson, who plays Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has recently filed a lawsuit against Disney over her most recent outing as the super spy in this month’s “Black Widow,” Variety reports.
The lawsuit alleges that by releasing the film on Disney+ simultaneously with the theatrical release, “Disney intentionally induced Marvel’s breach of the agreement, without justification, in order to prevent Ms. Johansson from realizing the full benefit of her bargain with Marvel.”
Johansson reportedly took a partial back-end deal, in which her salary for the film was derived from the box office sales which, the lawsuit alleges, were undercut by the Disney+ sales.
After multiple delays in release due to the COVID-19 pandemic shuttering theaters nationwide, it was announced in March that “Black Widow” would be one of several films pushed through to the Disney+ streaming service as a Premiere Access title. Despite an $80 million opening in the US and Canada and $60 million garnered from Disney+ sales, the film still sits at $318 million worldwide. With $157 million total domestic take as of press time, this makes “Black Widow” the 2nd lowest-earning marvel film ever, behind “The Incredible Hulk.”
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