Scarlett Johansson has struck a deal with Disney to settle her blockbuster lawsuit over her compensation for Black Widow. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but both Johansson and Disney issued statements confirming the settlement (via The Hollywood Reporter). “I am happy to have resolved our differences with Disney,” stated Johansson. “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.” Advertisement Related Video “I’m very pleased that we have been able to come to a mutual agreement with Scarlett Johansson regarding Black Widow,” added Disney Studios chairman Alan Bergman. “We appreciate her contributions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe an...
Scarlett Johansson is suing Disney over the company’s decision to stream Black Widow on its Disney+ platform at the same time as its theatrical release. According to the Wall Street Journal, Johansson filed the suit in a Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday, accusing Disney of breaching its contract with her over the release of Black Widow and thus preventing Johansson “from realizing the full benefit of her bargain with Marvel.” As Johansson’s salary was based in large part on the box office performance of Black Widow, Disney’s decision to put the film on Disney+ cost the actress as much as $50 million, a person familiar with details of her contract told WSJ. Advertisement Related Video In her complaint, Johansson says her representatives sought to renegotiate her contract after learnin...
Marvel may be at the top of the food chain in terms of superhero cinema, but for one former star, they’re just cattle. Stephen Dorff, who played villain Deacon Frost in 1998’s Blade, has criticized the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in particular throwing shade at the upcoming Black Widow for looking “like a bad video game.” Speaking with the UK’s Independent about his new film, Embattled, Dorff was asked about what roles he looks for in modern Hollywood. The actor took that as a prompt to bash the company that elevated his career by making him the star of one of the first successful post-Batman comic book adaptations. “I still hunt out the good shit because I don’t want to be in Black Widow,” said Dorff, continuing, “It looks like garbage to me. It looks like a bad video g...
After more than a year’s delay due to the pandemic, Marvel has finally decided to release Black Widow day-and-date on Disney+ and in theaters on July 9th. The movie will be available as a Premier Access stream, which means Disney+ users will have to pay an additional fee to watch. What’s more, Emma Stone’s live-action 101 Dalmatians prequel Cruella will follow the same distribution plan, coming to Premier Access Disney+ and cinemas on May 28th. Meanwhile, Pixar’s Luca will take the release path laid out by the Oscar-nominated Soul, going directly to streaming at no extra cost to subscribers on June 19th. Disney’s decision to make Black Widow and Cruella available as Premier Access movies comes after what a press statement calls “the successful release” of Raya and The Last Dragon...
Disney has returned with more re-programming woes. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Mouse House is pushing back both Black Widow and West Side Story way, way into 2021 because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Scarlett Johansson’s blockbuster will go from November 6th to May 7th, 2021. If you’re keeping tabs, that’s more than a full year removed from its pre-Covid release date of May 1st, 2020. Because of this, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is moving from May 7th to July 9th, 2021, while The Eternals will shift from February to November 5th, 2021. Meanwhile, Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story is officially out of this year’s Oscar race. 20th Century and Amblin’s remake of the iconic musical is being delayed an entire year, going from December 18th, 2020 to December 1...
Blockbuster Month is celebrating the true titans of the genre. All month long, you’ll read through a variety of features digging deep into the greatest hits of Hollywood, from popcorn classics to underrated gems. Today, Josh Spiegel debates whether the blockbuster will ever eschew the theater experience and go straight to our living rooms. Back at the end of March — remember March? Like, even the concept of the month of March? — my wife informed me that our sister-in-law was being proactive. She was starting an online petition regarding an issue about which she felt passionate. Was it related to the dearth of Covid-19 testing throughout the country? Staggered school re-openings in her state or others in the Union? No, she had begun a petition to exhort the Walt Disney Company to release Mu...