Black Widow moves to 2021

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Who knows what's in the contract and what was said or agreed to after the contract? If one doesn't have that information, any judgments are premature.

If Disney's statement is correct, SJ is getting $20 base, and part of the money from theaters and from D+PA.

One issue is if the bonus is based on net or gross. Black Widow is only closing in on profitability this week.

The other issue is the claim that an MCU movie would have made a billion dollars if released exclusively to theaters. Well, yes... absent a pandemic. The Box Office of other tentpoles that have been released during the pandemic makes that claim rather laughable.

And the final issue is the lack of a release in China. Media watchers don't know why Disney couldn't get a China release and neither Disney nor China are speaking. So, without China, you ain't getting a billion dollar Box Office.

This suit may drag out information: the total income from D+PA; and the reason why there was no China release.

The statements from both sides are the most interesting part…

disney: “how dare you be greedy in a pandemic?!?” (As they force releases to try to boost their stock price)

Johansson: “a big moneybags corporation is hiding being covid so they can avoid paying their contracts” (as she says she should have gotten paid enough to retire on 50x over)

Both are probably right/wrong

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

The statements from both sides are the most interesting part…

disney: “how dare you be greedy in a pandemic?!?” (As they force releases to try to boost their stock price)

Johansson: “a big moneybags corporation is hiding being covid so they can avoid paying their contracts” (as she says she should have gotten paid enough to retire on 50x over)

Both are probably right/wrong

She is in the right. a contract is a contract. she starred in the movie, pay her what you agreed. simple. break the contract and get sued. contracts are black and white. disney is going to lose and pay up.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

She is in the right. a contract is a contract. she starred in the movie, pay her what you agreed. simple. break the contract and get sued. contracts are black and white. disney is going to lose and pay up.

If I understand the fundamentals…it’s not that simple.

she negotiated a contact when every marvel movie grossed a billion and netted $500 mil…

then life killed that…maybe permanently?

i think they’re saying she can name her price based on the past…which wasn’t gonna happen anyway in the present.

i think they broke the contract…but the plaintiff wants to ignore the whole set of facts

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Assuming this goes to court, I don't know. They are honoring the contract by paying her the cut of box office that both sides agreed to. And Disney sounds like they are including money made from the Disney+ Premiere Access as part of that.

The issue here is that when she signed that contract, she obviously had hopes that the movie would have a box office take comparable to the other Marvel movies. But, then a global pandemic came in and screwed things up. So, after delaying the film for a year, Disney chose to release it to both theaters and Disney+, since theaters still aren't operating like they were pre-Covid. I don't see how they breached her contract. They did release it to theaters and are paying her a cut of the box office. Unless there was some terminology in the contract about a release window where it was exclusive, she's fighting an uphill battle. Even if her team could somehow convince a judge that Disney sabotaged her pay with the dual release, I have a hard time believe that a judge would find that the film would have earned her another $50 million in box office revenue in the current environment. But this is just my opinion.

I think in the end, both sides will settle. But if it does end up making it to trial, I think it will be an interesting trial to follow.

Yeah…the more I read…the more I agree

I think:
1. Disney is wrong
2. It isn’t worth anything based on her claims

So it could be a $0 award type deal…which is why this is aimed at a settlement.

now Disney’s 1000 lawyers know that…and they could send a message to Hollywood by fighting it and not settling.

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

Yeah…the more I read…the more I agree

I think:
1. Disney is wrong
2. It isn’t worth anything based on her claims

So it could be a $0 award type deal…which is why this is aimed at a settlement.

now Disney’s 1000 lawyers know that…and they could send a message to Hollywood by fighting it and not settling.

It wont be settled. its going to court.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It wont be settled. its going to court.

Agree

and I could see it as being a win/lose for both sides

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

First Disney screwed over Gina Carano and now they are trying to screw over Scarlett. Why does Disney hate female actors??

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

First Disney screwed over Gina Carano and now they are trying to screw over Scarlett. Why does Disney hate female actors??

I assume you’re joking?

 

[THE 1HAPPY HAUNT]

I assume you’re joking?

Am I? Actions speak louder than words. Disney can say on twitter all day and night now inclusive and progressive they are and claiming to care for people ... but here they are, moving people to florida to save money on taxes to save their bottom line, letting employees go like crazy, promoting BLACK WIDOW as a movie that empowers women..except when it comes time to pay them what they agreed to.

 

[choco choco]

True, but I have a harder time seeing Disney do what it does best by short-shrifting its talent constantly and sitting idly by. Look at their statement:

View attachment 575701

Embarrassing on Disney's part.

"[Release on Disney+] has significantly enhanced her ability to earn additional compensation..."

So they're treating their workers like unpaid interns ("the compensation is you get to put it on your resume!").

This company can go to hell.

Hopefully tons of top Hollywood talent refuse to work with Disney in solidarity with her.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Am I? Actions speak louder than words. Disney can say on twitter all day and night now inclusive and progressive they are and claiming to care for people ... but here they are, moving people to florida to save money on taxes to save their bottom line, letting employees go like crazy, promoting BLACK WIDOW as a movie that empowers women..except when it comes time to pay them what they agreed to.

Gina Carano made her choices and said stupid things…lay with the dog, get fleas.

the one thing I applaud Disney for is not suffering that fool. It’s Hollywood…she knows the deal

even if they are inconsistent/two faced

 

[GimpYancIent]

Gina Carano made her choices and said stupid things…lay with the dog, get fleas.

the one thing I applaud Disney for is not suffering that fool. It’s Hollywood…she knows the deal

even if they are inconsistent/two faced

Yes! The "Hollywood" crowd is disingenuous, inconsistent/ two faced, but, a binding contract is a binding contract.

 

[CJR]

If I'm understanding this suit correctly, Scar is not getting a cut from the Disney+ sales?

That's kind of messed up since it's basically their alternative to theatrical. I wonder if the other movies released on Disney+ had similar issues, such as Emma Stone and Cruella. It's possible that they had it in their contracts of course. Dwayne Johnson seems supportive of Disney+, so it's interesting. They must have different contracts written up.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

If I'm understanding this suit correctly, Scar is not getting a cut from the Disney+ sales?

That's kind of messed up since it's basically their alternative to theatrical. I wonder if the other movies released on Disney+ had similar issues, such as Emma Stone and Cruella. It's possible that they had it in their contracts of course. Dwayne Johnson seems supportive of Disney+, so it's interesting. They must have different contracts written up.

I think their claim is she’s “compensated” for that…but her camp seems to want to determine a payout not tied to the figures.

it’s a “but it WOULD have made a billion!” stance??

 

[MisterPenguin]

If I'm understanding this suit correctly, Scar is not getting a cut from the Disney+ sales?

According to Disney's statement, she is indeed getting a cut of it.

We just don't know:

• If what Disney says is accurate (also, we don't know if what SJ's lawyers are saying is accurate)
• If such a cut is on gross or net (the movie is only about now breaking even... Disney's budgets, including paying someone $20 million to star in a movie, are quite large).

Furthermore, SJ's team is saying SJ should get a cut of "what could have been" if there was no same-day release on D+. As if the approximately $100 million from D+PA (of which SJ will get a cut) would have translated into $600 million at the Box Office while we're still in a world-wide pandemic. Expecting any tentpole to hit a billion dollars during a pandemic is... a stretch. Either her team has delusional ideations, or, she expected Disney to keep putting off the release until the pandemic was over?

Still aren't sure of what's what until we see the formal complaint and Disney's formal response.

Don't know why Disney isn't mollifying all the big stars missing out on big cuts due to the pandemic by promising them starring roles in future movies, or a chance to direct/produce.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Don't know why Disney isn't mollifying all the big stars missing out on big cuts due to the pandemic by promising them starring roles in future movies, or a chance to direct/produce.

Because they don’t love Disney…they want paid. It’s transactional…if Fox had MCU they would have spent 10 years smiling In front of their logo

 

[GimpYancIent]

The Black Widow character meets her end in this movie, doesn't she? Hmmmmmmm.

 

[CJR]

According to Disney's statement, she is indeed getting a cut of it.

We just don't know:

• If what Disney says is accurate (also, we don't know if what SJ's lawyers are saying is accurate)
• If such a cut is on gross or net (the movie is only about now breaking even... Disney's budgets, including paying someone $20 million to star in a movie, are quite large).

Furthermore, SJ's team is saying SJ should get a cut of "what could have been" if there was no same-day release on D+. As if the approximately $100 million from D+AP (of which SJ will get a cut) would have translated into $600 million at the Box Office while we're still in a world-wide pandemic. Expecting any tentpole to hit a billion dollars during a pandemic is... a stretch. Either her team has delusional ideations, or, she expected Disney to keep putting off the release until the pandemic was over?

Still aren't sure of what's what until we see the formal complaint and Disney's formal response.

Don't know why Disney isn't mollifying all the big stars missing out on big cuts due to the pandemic by promising them starring roles in future movies, or a chance to direct/produce.

I agree. It's interesting this is just now happening.

Makes me wonder, what is Warner Brothers doing different? They're putting all of their movies on HBO Max for free right now. One would guess Gal Gadot also lost a lot of backend revenue when they tossed the Wonder Woman movie on HBO Max, which unlike Disney+, didn't charge extra for it.

We probably won't ever get answers, but for some reason, until Black Widow, we haven't heard a complaint, as far as I can tell. I know all contracts are different and this case might be specific to Black Widow, but it seems a bit hard to believe none of these celebrities had similar deals - since all the contracts were signed pre-pandemic. My guess is that this isn't so much about the money as it is in sending a message.

 

[MisterPenguin]

The Black Widow character meets her end in this movie, doesn't she? Hmmmmmmm.

No, in another movie she already died.

This movie and the "passing of the Black Widow" torch to someone else was all planned before the pandemic and the thrice rescheduling of the movie.

That it was going to D+ as PA was a recent decision... they didn't change the movie because of it.

All the above said in case you were joking and someone took you seriously.

 

[Dead2009]

she is not suing for more money. she is suing for the money she is rightfully owed in her contract Disney is not paying her what they are obligated to. She was even willing to work with him and negotiate a new deal and they ignored her. now she is rightfully suing their butts.

How do you know what she was owed in her contract?