When civil war breaks out in Hollywood
Unprecedented lawsuits and a public war of words — why are A-list stars and studios going head-to-head?
IT’S A HOLLYWOOD case which, regardless of outcome, is guaranteed to go down in history. In July, Scarlett Johansson filed a lawsuit against Disney for breach of contract over the studio’s decision to release Black Widow on Disney+ and in cinemas concurrently. Johansson claimed in the suit that her agreement guaranteed an exclusive theatrical release for Black Widow and her salary was based, in large part, on the boxoffice takings. Emails included in the lawsuit show her representatives had looked to renegotiate her contract after learning about the hybrid release. Disney, it is claimed, did not respond.
In an uncharacteristically public response, Disney said the lawsuit was “especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the Covid-19 pandemic”. They also claimed they had fully complied with her contract. Women’s organisations such as Time’s Up criticised Disney for what they called “a gendered character attack”; Johansson’s agent, Bryan Lourd, said the response was “beneath the company”.
Two weeks later, another Disney star — Shang-chi’s Simu Liu — spoke out on a public platform. The film, which now has a 45-day exclusive theatrical window, was described by Disney’s CEO Bob Chapek as an “interesting experiment” that could inform how they approach future films.
Liu responded on social media: “We are not an experiment. We are the underdog; the underestimated.”
At a sensitive time between studios and their talent, these cases are about more than money, say some insiders. “I don’t think Johansson is counting her pennies,” a leading talent agent, who spoke on condition of anonymity, tells Empire. “It’s about her expectation of being at the front of a big summer blockbuster. This is for her career, and for women in cinema.”
More fallouts could follow, says John Sloss, an entertainment lawyer and founder of talent management company Cinetic. “What happened earlier this year with Warner Bros. was, to me, much more egregious,” he says of the studio’s call to release its upcoming slate, including Dune and The Matrix 4, on HBO Max simultaneously for no fee to subscribers. Directors such as Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve criticised the studio, Nolan even describing HBO Max as “the worst streaming service”.
Streamers such as Netflix are different, and their relatively simple approach could be appealing to talent, says Sloss: while studios often offer stars a profit share based on box office, Netflix offers stars a buyout upfront. “People go into working with Netflix with their eyes open, whereas the people who have entered into these other agreements went in with a certain set of assumptions,” he says, noting that in his opinion, “Netflix are probably now paying people more than what they get for regular studio gigs.”
At a tough time financially, the question for studios is how you juggle relationships with stars and protecting revenue. Some are attempting olive branches; Variety reported that Warner Bros. paid hefty bonuses to Gal Gadot and Patty Jenkins for Wonder Woman 1984, calculating their profit participation as if the film had earned $1 billion. And Marvel boss Kevin Feige has called for “amicable solutions” to Johansson’s lawsuit. Here’s hoping they’re found — for everyone’s sake.