This is going to be a tough sell when her apparent argument is that execs put their own benefit over that of…. hers? BW is the top grossing film domestically of 2021, beating out AQPII, GvK, and F9 at around 180m (so far). A look back at releases back to 2019 shows that these numbers are well aligned with similar releases since the giants raking in two or three times that (Endgame, Spider Man FFH, etc) of prior years, occurrences that even those in HER industry consider unlikely to repeat.
On the subject of acting to better the stock performance, she clearly has no idea that executives of just about every publicly held company are legally bound to act in the best interests of the shareholders. Disney+ lands squarely in that category, and the onus will be on SJ’s legal team to somehow prove that those who watched at home (for $30 no less) took away from her earnings. Time and again data has shown that moviegoers remain such, and those who don’t frequent theaters but are willing to pay to watch the same films add to revenues.
Mix in Covid closures, the fact that the box office takes were down almost 50% from 2020 (which had full attendance up through April), and 80% from 2019, and her top-of-the-earnings film doesn’t necessarily look like it was victimized.
The loss comes from with BW being released straight to streaming during time where everything was opening back up & theaters in full swing, it allowed the film to be highly pirated & redistributed in a full HD quality all over the world which cut into the profits she was contracted to share. D+ was only successful that 1st weekend. After everyone copied, downloaded & distributed the film digitally, BW lost a lot of money & potential earnings were shot. Piracy is always a given, but when it was released on D+ at the same time, they gave Pirates a Free profitable perfect copy in 4K. And don’t forget an official theatrical release was never set in China, but the pirated copies spread throughout China the same day. So where they thought they made out Big onw BW on D+, they actually created their own major loss.
Yeah but the argument is that the Bobs acted in self-interest screwing SJ. It sounds like their interests are aligned with the publicly traded company they manage. Whether their actions worked out or not is a different story (due to piracy, etc.). Right? Still… ugly business. Wonder what amendments to the talent compensation package were explored before getting to the point of a lawsuit which just makes everyone look bad and taints a wonderful franchise.
This is not just a decision that they made in their interest, but a breach of contract in their own self interest.
Someone made a calculated risk.. they figured that the risk of being sued by the actors for breaking the contrat over the Disney+ release was worth the reward they would get by raking in all the purchases on Disney+.
Even now, the risk of having to settle for $15 or $20 million dollars with Scarlett Johansson may be lower than going to court and having the precedent set and being sued by a whole another group of actors.
You forget, the people in charge of the company have a fiduciary responsibility to make money for all the stakeholders not just the stockholders. Which means they also had a responsibility to make sure SJ got the most money she could from her contract. By this self-dealing they cut into her payout. A big case involving self-dealing has already been decided before when the stars of Bones sued Fox over their residuals, since Fox gave their own network a sweetheart deal on the show and didn’t match other offers. This is even worse, since Disney didn’t even buy the rights to stream the movie also harming stakeholders.
In the end she should prevail and so should other actors who got screwed by Disney and Warner.
The social media argument is about people being greedy. Because that’s delicious scandal that gets folks fighting online. The legal argument is that much of Mrs. Johansen’s compensation was tied to the box office revenue. At the time of signing, there was no pandemic, so no reason to address streaming royalties. By simultaneously releasing in theaters and D+, the argument is that a significant portion of her compensation is being diverted around the contract. Personally, I think it will hold up in court. The effect of the agreement was intended as a percentage of the release revenue. Disney is claiming that since streaming is not explicitly addressed in the contract, they don’t owe anything more. But the contract also stipulated a standard, theatrical only release. So they’re already in breach by offering it on D+. I imagine it will be ruled that her percentage will be applied to the streaming sales. Disney should have just handled this in-house and quietly paid. They’ve damaged trust in them by the people who make their content. So now they’re going to have a harder and more expensive time pulling top level talent.
I would have to reread the articles published at The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline in order to look into the Contract that Team Disney had with Actress Scarlett Johansson.
Briefly? I get the impression she was promised more than $20 million as compensation for her last contractual appearance in a Marvel Movie – which would include financial compensation for use of likeness in toys & games + a % from streaming / video on demand + % from home media sales (and by last contractual appearance? this means that Scarlett Johansson would be done with the Walt Disney Company so that she could go work elsewhere).
Notice that Marvel / Kevin Feige isn’t named in the lawsuit (why? because you can trust him! So, let’s leave him out of it, since he maintains a cordial relationship with everyone at Marvel – something Bob Chapek could learn!)
Corporate Team Disney financially patted each other on the back, while too many lost their jobs AND were put on unpaid furlough (this is well documented in the media, it’s the sort of bad publicity that Team Disney hasn’t tried to answer for!)
I believe Bob Iger got out of there before 100% of the problems during the pandemic would be pointed towards him!
I 100% agree that Bob Chapak appears greedy, as well as handles things like a Cheapskate (take a look at that push to pay extra for this and that at Disney Theme Parks! Now take a look at how each theme park is not 100% in operation, but you still pay 100% to get through the main gate – and every single new Land that debuted was never 100% complete!) and – as I already pointed out – needs to learn how to handle things with actors actresses directors producers under contract (or he could be facing more than just a lawsuit with the talent, but also with their respective Unions!)
Scarlett Johansson would not be treated this way if she was still under contract for further Marvel content! Scarlett Johansson may not make Johnny Depp 💰 , or Robert Downey Jr 💰, but I hope she wins at least a “significant amount” …. and drives Team Disney to find another CEO who’s more personal (put the Walt back in Disney! treat everybody at Disney fairly and compassionately!)
This is why I canceled Disney + I am tired of a company that prices it’s attractions for the very rich and charges extra for movies new released. The good news is either they sell them as 4k disc’s or on another service or I will never pay them extra retail money ever again
👏👏👏
To add insult to injust you cannot find one single piece of BW merchandise at Disneyland or Avengers Campus. What is that all about!?! She was my FAV avenger…. the only female so far and has no representation in the shops. Such a disgrace. Disney is looking like a money hungry villain in this one.
Her lawsuit has already translated into a win for another actor. Emma Stone negotiated a cut of streaming revenue for Cruella 2. She wouldn’t have gotten that without ScarJo’s suit and the threat that she might have filed a similar one. Scarlett took one for the union by filing. She knows Disney won’t hire her again but she was done with the character anyway.
Comments for Scarlett Johansson Cites Disney Exec. “Compensation Packages” in Lawsuit
sddjd
This is going to be a tough sell when her apparent argument is that execs put their own benefit over that of…. hers? BW is the top grossing film domestically of 2021, beating out AQPII, GvK, and F9 at around 180m (so far). A look back at releases back to 2019 shows that these numbers are well aligned with similar releases since the giants raking in two or three times that (Endgame, Spider Man FFH, etc) of prior years, occurrences that even those in HER industry consider unlikely to repeat.
On the subject of acting to better the stock performance, she clearly has no idea that executives of just about every publicly held company are legally bound to act in the best interests of the shareholders. Disney+ lands squarely in that category, and the onus will be on SJ’s legal team to somehow prove that those who watched at home (for $30 no less) took away from her earnings. Time and again data has shown that moviegoers remain such, and those who don’t frequent theaters but are willing to pay to watch the same films add to revenues.
Mix in Covid closures, the fact that the box office takes were down almost 50% from 2020 (which had full attendance up through April), and 80% from 2019, and her top-of-the-earnings film doesn’t necessarily look like it was victimized.
MadHatter
The loss comes from with BW being released straight to streaming during time where everything was opening back up & theaters in full swing, it allowed the film to be highly pirated & redistributed in a full HD quality all over the world which cut into the profits she was contracted to share. D+ was only successful that 1st weekend. After everyone copied, downloaded & distributed the film digitally, BW lost a lot of money & potential earnings were shot. Piracy is always a given, but when it was released on D+ at the same time, they gave Pirates a Free profitable perfect copy in 4K. And don’t forget an official theatrical release was never set in China, but the pirated copies spread throughout China the same day. So where they thought they made out Big onw BW on D+, they actually created their own major loss.
Impartial Alien
Yeah but the argument is that the Bobs acted in self-interest screwing SJ. It sounds like their interests are aligned with the publicly traded company they manage. Whether their actions worked out or not is a different story (due to piracy, etc.). Right? Still… ugly business. Wonder what amendments to the talent compensation package were explored before getting to the point of a lawsuit which just makes everyone look bad and taints a wonderful franchise.
Legaleagle
No, the issue is they breached the contract for their own personal gains.
Tony
This is not just a decision that they made in their interest, but a breach of contract in their own self interest.
Someone made a calculated risk.. they figured that the risk of being sued by the actors for breaking the contrat over the Disney+ release was worth the reward they would get by raking in all the purchases on Disney+.
Even now, the risk of having to settle for $15 or $20 million dollars with Scarlett Johansson may be lower than going to court and having the precedent set and being sued by a whole another group of actors.
Frank
You forget, the people in charge of the company have a fiduciary responsibility to make money for all the stakeholders not just the stockholders. Which means they also had a responsibility to make sure SJ got the most money she could from her contract. By this self-dealing they cut into her payout. A big case involving self-dealing has already been decided before when the stars of Bones sued Fox over their residuals, since Fox gave their own network a sweetheart deal on the show and didn’t match other offers. This is even worse, since Disney didn’t even buy the rights to stream the movie also harming stakeholders.
In the end she should prevail and so should other actors who got screwed by Disney and Warner.
Steve
The social media argument is about people being greedy. Because that’s delicious scandal that gets folks fighting online. The legal argument is that much of Mrs. Johansen’s compensation was tied to the box office revenue. At the time of signing, there was no pandemic, so no reason to address streaming royalties. By simultaneously releasing in theaters and D+, the argument is that a significant portion of her compensation is being diverted around the contract. Personally, I think it will hold up in court. The effect of the agreement was intended as a percentage of the release revenue. Disney is claiming that since streaming is not explicitly addressed in the contract, they don’t owe anything more. But the contract also stipulated a standard, theatrical only release. So they’re already in breach by offering it on D+. I imagine it will be ruled that her percentage will be applied to the streaming sales. Disney should have just handled this in-house and quietly paid. They’ve damaged trust in them by the people who make their content. So now they’re going to have a harder and more expensive time pulling top level talent.
CJ
I would have to reread the articles published at The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline in order to look into the Contract that Team Disney had with Actress Scarlett Johansson.
Briefly? I get the impression she was promised more than $20 million as compensation for her last contractual appearance in a Marvel Movie – which would include financial compensation for use of likeness in toys & games + a % from streaming / video on demand + % from home media sales (and by last contractual appearance? this means that Scarlett Johansson would be done with the Walt Disney Company so that she could go work elsewhere).
Notice that Marvel / Kevin Feige isn’t named in the lawsuit (why? because you can trust him! So, let’s leave him out of it, since he maintains a cordial relationship with everyone at Marvel – something Bob Chapek could learn!)
Corporate Team Disney financially patted each other on the back, while too many lost their jobs AND were put on unpaid furlough (this is well documented in the media, it’s the sort of bad publicity that Team Disney hasn’t tried to answer for!)
I believe Bob Iger got out of there before 100% of the problems during the pandemic would be pointed towards him!
I 100% agree that Bob Chapak appears greedy, as well as handles things like a Cheapskate (take a look at that push to pay extra for this and that at Disney Theme Parks! Now take a look at how each theme park is not 100% in operation, but you still pay 100% to get through the main gate – and every single new Land that debuted was never 100% complete!) and – as I already pointed out – needs to learn how to handle things with actors actresses directors producers under contract (or he could be facing more than just a lawsuit with the talent, but also with their respective Unions!)
Scarlett Johansson would not be treated this way if she was still under contract for further Marvel content! Scarlett Johansson may not make Johnny Depp 💰 , or Robert Downey Jr 💰, but I hope she wins at least a “significant amount” …. and drives Team Disney to find another CEO who’s more personal (put the Walt back in Disney! treat everybody at Disney fairly and compassionately!)
Andrew R Links
This is why I canceled Disney + I am tired of a company that prices it’s attractions for the very rich and charges extra for movies new released. The good news is either they sell them as 4k disc’s or on another service or I will never pay them extra retail money ever again
Kristina
👏👏👏
To add insult to injust you cannot find one single piece of BW merchandise at Disneyland or Avengers Campus. What is that all about!?! She was my FAV avenger…. the only female so far and has no representation in the shops. Such a disgrace. Disney is looking like a money hungry villain in this one.
Jim A
Her lawsuit has already translated into a win for another actor. Emma Stone negotiated a cut of streaming revenue for Cruella 2. She wouldn’t have gotten that without ScarJo’s suit and the threat that she might have filed a similar one. Scarlett took one for the union by filing. She knows Disney won’t hire her again but she was done with the character anyway.
ken
is she planning to retire?
this will be her last Disney movie.
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