Scarlett Johansson has plans to work with Disney once again after settling her lawsuit with the company over the streaming release of Black Widow. Johansson sued the Walt Disney Company in July, claiming her contract did not allow for the film to be released on Disney+ Premiere Access the same day as its theatrical release, which her team claimed resulted in lower box office sales tied to her compensation.
Thursday, the two parties came to a confidential settlement, and the actress shared in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter she was looking forward to “continuing [their] collaboration” in the future. “I am happy to have resolved our differences with Disney,” Johansson said. “I’m incredibly proud of the work we’ve done together over the years and have greatly enjoyed my creative relationship with the team. I look forward to continuing our collaboration in years to come.”
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Disney Studios chairman Alan Bergman added in a statement of his own, “I’m very pleased that we have been able to come to a mutual agreement with Scarlett Johansson regarding Black Widow. We appreciate her contributions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and look forward to working together on a number of upcoming projects, including Disney’s Tower of Terror.”
After Black Widow grossed $378.7 million worldwide, Johansson’s attorney, John Berlinski of Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP, said in a statement, “It’s no secret that Disney is releasing films like Black Widow directly onto Disney+ to increase subscribers and thereby boost the company’s stock price-and that it’s hiding behind COVID-19 as a pretext to do so. But ignoring the contracts of the artists responsible for the success of its films in furtherance of this short-sighted strategy violates their rights and we look forward to proving as much in court.”
The studio hit back with a fiery statement of its own, saying the lawsuit was “especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.” Disney continued it had “fully complied” with Johansson’s contract, pointing out she had received a $20 million paycheck for the film. Creative Artists Agency co-chairman Bryan Lourd then fired back that Disney “shamelessly and falsely accused Ms. Johansson of being insensitive to the global COVID pandemic, in an attempt to make her appear to be someone they and I know she isn’t.” The terms of the settlement between the two parties have not been disclosed.
