Black Widow has a new name on its killlist. The star of Marvel’s latest film, Scarlett Johansson, has decided to sue Disney, claiming the media giant violated the terms of its contract by offering Black widow streaming on Disney + the same day as in theaters. Johansson, who was the production director of the film, with compensation indexed to her box office performance, estimates that Disney’s decision could cost her nearly $ 50 million in the long run, according to Wall Street Journal.
Black widow performed an honest performance on release, scoring $ 80 million at the box office in early July, breaking the post-Covid record set by Fast and Furious 9, to which must be added $ 60 million collected – worldwide – on Disney Plus, with a film available for purchase for $ 30.
Streaming War
But now, since then, the adventures of Natasha Romanov have plunged, with a total of 157 million dollars at the American box office in three weeks. It is about half as much as Captain marvel and three times less than Black panther over the same duration. One point remains difficult to determine: is this relative underperformance explained above all by the availability of streaming or by the reluctance of spectators to the idea of meeting in an enclosed space, with rooms that can now reopen? at full capacity in the United States. Without checking, for the most part, the immunization status of each one.
In Hollywood, all eyes will be on this standoff between Scarlett Johansson and Disney. Before her, Denis Villeneuve sharply criticized HBO and Warner for the simultaneous streaming-theaters release. Dune, believing that it could jeopardize his chances of making a sequel if the film didn’t hit a hit in the fall. There is, however, one notable difference with Disney: Warner renegotiated many contracts after deciding to offer all of his blockbusters simultaneously on HBO Max.