Black Widow: Scarlett Johansson files lawsuit against Disney for releasing film on OTT

Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson has filed a lawsuit against Disney, citing breach of contract, for releasing her latest film Black Widow simultaneously in theatres and the production giant’s OTT platform, Disney+, on the same day.

Black Widow released in theatres earlier this year in July after being delayed due to the pandemic. The movie, which traced the character’s past, simultaneously dropped on Disney+ Premier Access with an additional cost of $30 for the viewers. Scarlett, in her lawsuit, has stated that this move sacrificed the box office potential of the film.

“Why would Disney forgo hundreds of millions of dollars in box office receipts by releasing the picture in theatres at a time when it knew the theatrical market was ‘weak,’ rather than waiting a few months for that market to recover?” she stated in the complaint, adding that the OTT streaming service of Walt Disney Company has used the MCU film as well as Scarlett to grow their subscribers.

The actress’ lawsuit also alleges that the “hasty step taken by Disney would significantly compromise” the number of audiences in theatres which will eventually lead to a larger amount of loss. Meanwhile, on the opening weekend of Black Widow, the production company announced that Disney+ had earned revenue of $60 million.

Black Widow tells the story of Natasha Romanoff’s past, from her birth and her training of becoming an ultimate operative at KGB to the latter part of her life where she is freelancing to save the world. Black Widow also stars the Stranger Things fame David Harbour with Rachel Weisz, Florence Pugh and O-T Fagbenle.