Scarlett Johansson shocked the world after she went public with her lawsuit against Disney over the release strategy of “Black Widow.” The actress claims that the streaming release of “Black Widow” made it so she missed out on $50 million worth of backend money that was likely hers if the film got a typical theatrical release. Since then, jabs have been thrown from both sides, but we have yet to hear anyone specifically from Disney talk about the situation and what it means for the future. Well, until now.
Speaking at the Communacopia Conference (via THR), Disney CEO Bob Chapek talked openly about the Scarlett Johansson lawsuit and how the studio plans to move ahead with future talent deals. And when I say “talked openly,” what I mean is that he used CEO-speak, didn’t mention Johansson or “Black Widow” by name, and made vague proclamations about how Disney will change its contracts moving forward.
“We’ve got a deal that’s conceived under a certain set of conditions that actually results in a movie that’s being released in a completely different set, so there’s a bit of a reset that’s going on right now, and ultimately we’ll think about that as we do our future talent deals and plan for that and make sure that that’s incorporated,” Chapek said. “But right now, we’ve got sort of this middle position where we’re trying to do right by the talent. I think the talent’s trying to do right by us, and we’re just sort of figuring out our way to bridge the gap.”
So, even if Scarlet Johansson doesn’t necessarily get everything she’s wanting with her lawsuit, it does appear that the ripple effect of the legal battle will lead to more thoughtful contracts for talent in the future. In that sense, perhaps Johansson has already made herself a bit of a trailblazer by taking on Disney and probably souring her relationship with the biggest studio in the world, in the process.
Regardless, Chapek isn’t wrong in saying that things much change with future talent deals. The idea of an exclusive theatrical release being a guarantee in the future seems a bit optimistic. Perhaps “Black Widow” will go down as the only Marvel Studios release to get the straight-to-streaming treatment, but that could also change in a year or two if the box office never fully recovers.
All that to say, Johansson has clearly had an effect already and the biggest studio in the world is figuring out how to structure deals in the future to avoid this sort of legal mess.