How do you solve a problem like Black Widow? Because, make no mistake, that is exactly what Marvel’s latest standalone superhero offering has become for both its leading woman and the studio behind it.
ndeed, the news that Scarlett Johansson is suing Disney over a breach of contract came as a surprise not just to the bigwigs at the Mickey Mouse House but to those of us who believed in the idea that life on the Marvel payroll meant never having to worry about anything ever again.
The message, until now, was that things at Marvel were totally awesome. Everyone made their millions. Super producer, Kevin Feige (the Cecil B DeMille of contemporary superhero cinema), was the world’s greatest boss. Everything was peachy.
So, why is Johansson suing Disney?
Well, Johansson’s lawsuit, filed at the Los Angeles County Superior Court at the end of July, claims that the simultaneous release of Black Widow (the Oscar-nominated actress’s long-awaited solo outing) in theatres and on the Disney+ streaming service was never part of the deal.
Apparently, Black Widow was supposed to have a traditional theatrical release. If the film had followed in the footsteps of previous Marvel entries (remember, five out of six of the studio’s pictures released in 2018 and 2019 crossed the billion-dollar mark), then Johansson would have been entitled to her share of box office bonuses.
As it stands, Black Widow is currently one of the lowest-grossing Marvel movies since the “Marvel Cinematic Universe” franchise kicked off in 2008, with a total worldwide haul of $360m (against a production budget of $200m).
The film grossed $219.2m internationally on its opening weekend, which included $60m in Disney+ revenue (Black Widow was available to watch via the streamer’s Premier Access service for an additional $29.99).
Not a bad opening weekend, then — but it suffered a monumental 67pc drop in its second week at the US box office, with analysts blaming the film’s digital release on its financial shortcomings. Piracy was another issue, and Black Widow had begun to top illegal downloading lists within its first week of release.
It sounds complicated, but the bottom line is that Johansson claims she was promised a significant cut of the profits if Black Widow went stratospheric at the box office — and now that will never happen. Disney says it has already paid her $20m (her upfront salary).
Is she right to sue? Absolutely. It doesn’t matter if your employer has already sent 1,000 gold bars over to your mansion — if you were promised 1,050, and that’s what you both agreed on, then that’s what you should get. Besides, Downey Jr had a similar deal during his Iron Man tenure. It’s estimated that his earnings on 2019’s Avengers: Endgame came to $75m. Why shouldn’t Johansson get her share?
The real issue here is Disney’s reaction. The aforementioned Feige is said to be “both angry and embarrassed” by the situation. Former Disney CEO, Bob Iger, is apparently “mortified”. The Walt Disney Company’s official stance is that there is “no merit” in Johansson’s lawsuit, that she will continue to earn compensation from streaming royalties and — here’s the kicker — that the lawsuit shows a “callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the Covid-19 pandemic”. Oh dear.
Does it get worse? Sort of. Curiously, not a single member of the Avengers squad has come forward to publicly defend Johansson, which is odd considering that, last October, Downey Jr and Ruffalo came out fighting for their Avengers co-star, Chris Pratt, after Twitter users decided he was the “Worst Hollywood Chris” (behind Pine, Hemsworth, Evans, etc). It’s a nonsense title, but Pratt’s buddies didn’t like it, and they made it known with a series of earnest social media posts.
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So, where are all the “We Support Scarlett” posts, fellas?
Johansson isn’t the first major star to sue a studio over alleged broken promises — heck, she’s not even the latest. Days after the Black Widow story broke, we learned that renowned Scottish thespian Gerard Butler is taking the producers of his 2013 hit Olympus Has Fallen to court.
Butler served as a co-producer on the first instalment in the lucrative franchise, and he claims his former colleagues owe him approximately $10m in gross profits.
In 2017, Sylvester Stallone filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros because they (allegedly) forgot to share the profits from 1993’s Demolition Man (the case was settled out of court).
Kevin Costner, once the most bankable name in Hollywood, filed a lawsuit against Morgan Creek Productions in 2012, accusing the studio of hiding profits from 1991’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (again, a settlement was reached).
We could go on.
It’s likely that the Black Widow case will be settled out of court (nobody involved wants it to go that far) and that Johansson will step down from her role as Marvel’s favourite super spy (if you’ve seen the film, you’ll know that might have already been on the cards).
Whatever happens, the landscape has changed. You now have the option of seeing the latest major studio blockbusters from the comfort of your sofa, and you can’t blame audiences for opting for a premium streaming experience over a trip to the pictures.
But the hybrid approach is a temporary solution to a catastrophic shift, and though it might work for smaller, independent pictures, it has already begun to leave a huge hole in the pockets of the major players.
Warner Bros’ The Suicide Squad cost US$185m to make and grossed just $26.2m at the US box office in its first weekend (it was simultaneously available for HBO Max customers in America). Jungle Cruise (showing in cinemas and on Disney+ Premier Access) cost $200m to produce — its international box-office haul after two weeks stands at $126m.
Cruella, In the Heights and Space Jam: A New Legacy are just some of the other heavy hitters that are struggling, and these gargantuan productions will continue to do so for a while yet.
Will things get better? Hopefully.
We’re not out of the woods —we don’t know what the future of cinema looks like. But with a bit of luck, it will involve fewer lawsuits.