Disney and Scarlett Johansson Resolve Black Widow Lawsuit, Actress Reportedly Getting Paid $40 Million

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Image: Marvel Studios



Despite what was alluded to be a lengthy legal battle following “vitriolic filings” and “shaming PR statements,” the lawsuit that actress Scarlett Johansson filed against Disney for allegedly ruining her Black Widow profits has already concluded. Johansson confirmed that she made peace with Disney this week, noting that she’s happy to continue working with the media conglomerate despite their highly publicized feud.



“I am happy to have resolved our differences with Disney,” said Johansson in a statement. “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.”



The reason for that probably has to do with how much money Johansson managed to win from the legalities. According to sources with Deadline...
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So, a very low performer movie compared to Boseman who made only $2 million for Black Panther, box office over $1B, but one of the weakest MCUs in history, and actress, makes $40M?!

Nah, this is not a privileged-driven shenanigan. /s
 
It's almost as if your worth in hollywood is determined by your popularity. Absolutely shocking!
 
Well, I guess when a great majority of your body constantly needs butt injections/silicon, skin buttock lifts surgery, etc. and that mess does not come cheap these days, $40M will dry out fast, so she desperately needs it to keep that Hollywood-look going. 😏
 
as always, its all about the money

I wonder how much Collin Just will get :giggle::D
 
GunShot said:
Well, I guess when a great majority of your body constantly needs butt injections/silicon, skin buttock lifts surgery, etc. and that mess does not come cheap these days, $40M will dry out fast, so she desperately needs it to keep that Hollywood-look going. 😏
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Not to mention the lawyer will take a big cut, the Agent will take a big cut, etc.
 
Yall that should be 40 million on top of the 20 million she was paid up front. And really I don't blame actors for holding Disney's feet to the fire. Disney REGULARLY takes under represented actors and actresses, books them on multi movie deals... and in comparison pays them a pittance. Like 250k a movie. No joke that was the number I heard that all of the marvel crew got initially.

WIth Roberty Downey JR's representation at the fore front they managed to renegotiate and hold Marvel's feet to the fire to properly pay the actors and others working on the movies in scale. With a nice guaranteed up front payout to boot.

The new crew is going through the same pains and Boseman would be raking in money for newer movies as his scale adjusted as well. He NAILED Wakanda for the target markets and it was beautiful to see his impact.

Anyway yea there is more to this story. NONE of those actors that have been in massive blockbusters were paid what they should have been initially as they were figuring things out. But now they are and Disney is still trying to pull tricks.
 
Grimlakin said:
And really I don't blame actors for holding Disney's feet to the fire. Disney REGULARLY takes under represented actors and actresses, books them on multi movie deals... and in comparison pays them a pittance. Like 250k a movie. No joke that was the number I heard that all of the marvel crew got initially.
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No, I don't blame them either.

I also don't fault Disney for trying to get the best deal they can. No one forces these actors/actresses to sign these lowball contracts. And if you take a look at history, prior to Avengers -- apart from some DC comic success -- superhero movies were largely niche and not huge blockbusters. No one really expected MCU to become a multi-billion dollar IP that ended up bigger than Star Wars.

Actors have Agents and lawyers for a reason - to get them the best deals they can. Contract negotiation is a two-way street. If Disney gets a good deal, good on them. It's not because the mouse is evil, and if actors are willing to sign to make a movie, those same Actors should honor their contract, even if the movie does really well and they don't get as big a piece as they thought they should in hindsight. You live, learn, and do well enough to get them to cut you a sequel, where you can renegotiate.

I mean, the Mouse is evil, but this isn't the main reason why. Actors get paid handsomely, even $250k isn't exactly chump change, and they wouldn't do it if they had some better gig lined up at the same time... I don't get this making actors out to be victims, other than it's cool to hate on Evil Disney. Not saying @Grimlakin is doing this, I am just whining in general. Folks hating on Disney should be looking at how they exploit labor for their theme parks, outsource domestic workers for low paid foreign nationals, randomly insert phalluses into G-rated cartoons, or glorify the shameless slaughter or innocent wildlife (/s). Disney is a publicly traded company, and like all public companies, has a legal obligation to maximize the profit to their shareholders - and Disney is very good at doing just that.
 
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Oh yea Disney is great as a investor to see a return on your money. It's a pretty solid place to watch your money grow. But don't think for an instant that they are anything but ruthless. Now for some it really works out. Elen Degenres (sp) had fallen off of the stage more or less to the public mind until she played Dori. She got paid 70k for that movie and was happy for it. I hope her check for the next one was a 100x or more up tick in her pay for the movie.

Disney is VERY skilled at finding great talent that needs a PR win and exposure. Maybe that's a good thing. The exploitation comes in when DIsney is gambling. Saying that we want to sign you for six movies... at whatever thousands of dollars per movie. But you have to agree to all six before we shoot the 1st one. That's where it was shady in my mind. And that's why they were able to renegotiate I'm sure.
 
Grimlakin said:
But you have to agree to all six before we shoot the 1st one. That's where it was shady in my mind. And that's why they were able to renegotiate I'm sure.
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You can only sue after the fact if you can show breach of contract somehow -- which is exactly what ScarJo was able to claim with the Streaming vs Theatrical Release angle (I won't say it was actually or not, it never got to court to make a legal decision).

Lawyers get paid ridiculous amounts of money because they are supposed to be able to think of avenues like this and make (or save) you ridiculous amounts of money. Disney has really really good lawyers. ScarJo apparently found a good one too. I think what she did was "slimy-er" than Disney, although I can see her reasoning behind it. I just don't think she had very good footing to make a case, and I think she likely would have lost (and knew that) had it went to trial -- knowing that the bad PR (especially in the "Me Too" age, where this really looks like Evil Mouse is taking advantage of a poor innocent Female) would influence Disney's willingness to just cut a check and settle and make it go away - which is exactly what happened. Check and Mate.

Is it shady to sign a 6-picture deal? Nah, they aren't hiding it, or sliding it in after the fact; it's completely transparent to the actor before they sign. If you are a struggling actor, a 6-picture deal is a life saver and career maker. You have the choice to walk if you don't like it. You can hire lawyers/agents on your behalf -- That's where a good lawyer would make sure there's an escape clause in there -- it would give you an avenue to get out of this contract legally and renegotiate - even if it has some stiff penalty for you. If you end up triggering this, it's because you made it big and now have brand recognition in that role, and that gives you leverage, you just need a legal avenue to use it apart from just breaking a contract. A really good lawyer would also make sure some provision for payout was included if all six movies don't get made for whatever reason. And if your lawyers can't make that happen, maybe your not as big a deal as you thought you were (or, at least, not yet). Or maybe you just hired the wrong lawyers.

If you can't come to terms and walk, well, there are other people making movies apart from Disney. They hardly have a monopoly on making films.
 
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