Scarlett Johansson is allegedly suing Disney for releasing ‘Black Widow’ on Disney Plus.
Scarlett Johansson
The 36-year-old actress starred as Natasha Romanoff and her titular alter ego in the recently released Marvel movie, which is available to view in cinemas and on Disney’s streaming service, Disney Plus.
However, TMZ have reported that Scarlett is now suing the media giants for putting the movie on the streamer, because she believes this violates a clause in her contract relating to her salary.
In legal documents filed by Scarlett and her legal team, the star said her contract with Disney stated the movie would be exclusively released in cinemas, and so releasing it on Disney Plus at the same time broke that deal.
Scarlett also claims her salary for ‘Black Widow’ was tied to how well the film performed at the box office, and with the film available to view at home on the streaming service, less people ventured out to see it in cinemas.
TMZ reports that other studios have dealt with similar issues and given their stars additional compensation to make up for their backend loss, and Scarlett has alleged that she tried settling with Disney but was unsatisfied with the response she got.
‘Black Widow’ grossed $80 million in domestic box office opening weekend, as well as another $78 million overseas and $60 million from home purchases on the streaming platform.
As of the time of writing, Disney have not commented on the lawsuit.
Meanwhile, Scarlett recently said she has no plans to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), as she’s “done” with playing Black Widow.
She said: “[I have] no plans to return as [Black Widow]. I feel really satisfied with this film. It feels like a great way to go out for this chapter of my Marvel identity."
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