STREAMING WARS

Scarlett Johansson Takes Disney to Court Over ‘Black Widow’ Streaming Release

The star claims the studio breached her contract by releasing the movie in theaters and on its streaming service at the same time.

Black Widow star Scarlett Johansson is taking Disney to court for allegedly breaching her contract by releasing the Marvel move in theaters and on its streaming service the same day. In a lawsuit filed Thursday, Johansson said that Marvel Entertainment, which is owned by Disney, had promised her “an exclusive theatrical release.” She said that her salary was largely based on how well the movie did at the box office, and sources told The Wall Street Journal that the move to immediately stream the film on Disney+ could cost her more than $50 million. “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,” the court documents allege. Black Widow earned $80 million domestically and $78 million globally during opening weekend with another $60 million from Disney+ purchases, a record with the service. However, the movie did not perform as well as hoped at the box office in the long term, causing some to wonder if Disney+ was affecting those results.