Cruella and Black Widow take aim at Mickey Mouse.
Scarlett Johansson hit headlines earlier in the week after it was revealed she was suing Disney for the release of her stand-alone film Black Widow. Now, ScreenRant reports that Emma Stone is also considering a lawsuit for the similar release of Cruella.
Johansson’s pay was based heavily on box office sales, so the actor had an exclusive cinema release worked into her contract. Naturally, after the initial boom, the film would be released onto the Disney+ platform. However, Disney released the film anyway, allegedly costing Johansson a substantial amount of money.
If Disney is doing this to big stars like Scarlett Johansson and Emma Stone, imagine what they’re getting away with when it comes to less established creatives.
— ahmad (@thisisnotahmad) July 30, 2021
The Wall Street Journal reports that sources close to Johansson estimate that the decision to release the film concurrently on Disney Plus resulted in $50 million (approx. Rs 370 crore) in lost bonuses.
Johansson’s lawyer John Berlinski said:
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.
Now, Emma Stone is reportedly considering another lawsuit for her film where she depicted the origins of the iconic Disney villain Cruella De Vil. Though the reviews for the film were fantastic, many believe that the dual release hindered the overall earnings of the blockbuster.
Former THR Editor Matt Belloni took to his exclusive newsletter What I’m Hearing… to report that the Cruella star is currently considering a lawsuit of her own. “Emma Stone, star of Cruella, is said to be weighing her options,” he wrote. He also suggested that Emily Blunt could be the next star to sue after Jungle Cruise releases this weekend. He called Disney “notoriously difficult to deal with”. He also said that creatives have been waiting for one of the big names to speak out.
ScarJo,Emma Stone and Emily Blunt on their way to sue Disney pic.twitter.com/gzqcpmexFa
— fitz💫 (@BUCK_13x) July 30, 2021
Should both Stone and later Blunt choose to speak out, then Disney could be facing a complete overturn of their streaming platform.
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