Beyond the Book: Scarlet Johansson Sues Disney for Breach of Contract

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIQ4r6N1eLA

In this video, the commentator explains the recent lawsuit by actor Scarlett Johansson againstDisney. She entered into a contract with Marvel to star in the movie Black Widow and agreed to bepaid based on the box office performance numbers, which included bonuses when ticket salesreached certain numbers. She contends that Disney, as the owner of Marvel, agreed that the moviewould be exclusively released to theaters. But when Disney released the movie, it released it onstreaming services as well as in theaters. Black Widow set a box office record of $80 million inNorth America and an additional $78 million overseas, but it also made $60 million on DisneyPlus, a streaming service. Ticket sales steeply declined in subsequent weeks, making the film oneof the lowest grossing Marvel movies.

Chapter 4, and watch the video in the Beyond the Book: Scarlet Johansson Sues Disney for Breach of Contract section in Section 4.5 of the text.

• What were the terms of the contract between Johansson and Disney?
• Did Disney perform under the contract?
• What, if any, are the potential defenses to fulfilling the specific terms of the contract?
• Was there a breach of the contract and by whom?
  • Did the breach affect the fulfilment of the contract?
• Did Johansson suffer any damages, and how would that be determined?