Black Widow was originally meant to release in theaters last year to kick off Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the movie's release date was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Over a year after its original release date, Black Widow finally hit theaters and the Disney+ streaming service earlier this month. The movie has reportedly been a big success on Disney+ and while its initial box office performance was strong, it fell off significantly in the second week.
Black Widow's relatively poor box office performance after its first week, blamed on its Disney+ availability, has now seen star Scarlett Johansson sue Disney for breach of contract. According to The Wall Street Journal, Johansson's contract stated that the movie would be released exclusively in theaters and that her salary was based on the movie's box office performance. The WSJ's sources claim that Black Widow being available on Disney+ has potentially cost Johansson more than $50 million.
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After it was announced that Black Widow was coming to Disney+ on the same day that it would premiere in theaters, Johansson and her team tried to renegotiate the terms of her contract. The lawsuit claims that Disney did not respond to these negotiation attempts.
This is just the latest development in the ongoing Black Widow movie theater controversy. Not only is Scarlett Johansson not happy about the film being released on Disney+ on the same day as it hit theaters, but movie theater owners around the country have expressed discontent with Disney for the decision. It's believed that if Black Widow was exclusive to theaters as was the original plan, it would've had a much stronger box office performance, even with the COVID-19 pandemic still being a factor.
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Those who haven't been following the MCU may be confused as to why Scarlett Johansson would potentially jeopardize future Disney payouts by suing the company over Black Widow. However, it's quite possible that Black Widow was going to be Johansson's last appearance as the titular superhero. After all, Black Widow was killed off in Avengers: Endgame, and it seems one of the main points of the Black Widow movie was to establish Florence Pugh's Yelena Boleva as the new Black Widow going forward.
Regardless, it will be interesting to see how this lawsuit develops and the impact it could have on future films that Disney brings to Disney+ the same date as they hit theaters.
Black Widow is in theaters now and available on Disney+ as a Premiere Access title.
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Source: The Wall Street Journal
