Disney CEO Defends Black Widow Release Against Scarlett Johansson Lawsuit!
It seems like Disney is far from ready to admit they were wrong – which maybe they weren’t. I’m honestly not qualified to know, either way, I just know I wish I could sue someone for millions of dollars. Either way, Scarlett Johansson is suing the house of mouse for breach of contract. The Disney CEO defends the Black Widow release strategy.
There was an investor call recently where Bob Chapek, Disney CEO, defended the dual release strategy used for Black Widow and a handful of other films. I suppose, if the other option, was continuing to delay movies I probably would have put it on Disney+ premiere access too.
Even though Johansson isn’t thrilled with how everything shook out, Chapek doesn’t seem to care.
“Last year, in light of the prolonged and unpredictable nature of a pandemic, we needed to find alternative ways to bring our movies to consumers while theaters were closed and once they began to reopen, there was still widespread reluctance to return. Therefore we adopted a three-prong strategy for releasing our films that consisted of theatrical releases, direct to Disney+, and a hybrid of theatrical plus Premier Access, as we did with Cruella, Jungle Cruise, and Marvel’s Black Widow, the top performing film at the domestic box office since the start of a pandemic. Bob Iger and I, along with the leaders of our creative and distribution teams, determine this was the right strategy because it would enable us to reach the broadest possible audience.” he said during the call.
He also went on to talk about how they make these decisions on a film-by-film basis. This means not every film going forward will get this kind of release strategy. I don’t think that’s making Johansson feel any better, though.
So, since Bob Chapek defends the Black Widow release strategy, that means Disney is standing by their decision. What do you guys in the comments think? Let us know!
Alexander is passionate about everything related to gaming, comics, television, and film. You can usually find him watching some kind of DC show and can also find his writing on Multiversal News, something he’s helping to build.
I think a contract is a contract. They should have re-negotiated with her. If the situation had been reversed and she had not met the terms of the contract they would have sued.