As Disney and ScarJo battle, a look at more stars who reworked Hollywood deals during COVID-19
Bryan AlexanderWalt Disney Co. faced off with investors Thursday, just weeks after Scarlett Johansson launched a lawsuit against Disney Studios, leading to a squabble over Hollywood star payments that turned very public.
During the investors conference call, Disney CEO Bob Chapek defended his company’s decision to release films, including "Black Widow," simultaneously in theaters and on Disney+ during the COVID-19 pandemic – and stood by the company's handling of pay issues that have arisen as streaming releases gain prominence.
"As we’ve done many times as the business has evolved and transformed, we’ve figured out ways to fairly compensate our talent, so no matter what the business model... everybody feels satisfied," said Chapek. "Since COVID has begun, we’ve entered into hundreds of arrangements with our talent, and by and large, they’ve gone very, very smoothly."
Chapek said he expected "that will be the case going forward," not mentioning the "Black Widow" suit by name.
Johansson isn't alone in defending her contract in an evolving industry. Here's how the "Black Widow" star and others have fared in similar pay disagreements.
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Gal Gadot, director Patti Jenkins, 'Wonder Woman: 1984'
At the height of the global lockdown in November, Warner Bros. Studios approached the agents for Gal Gadot and director Patti Jenkins to inform the filmmakers of its revised plan for the Christmas Day release of the much-anticipated "Wonder Woman: 1984," according to The New York Times. The DC Comics tentpole sequel would be released simultaneously in theaters and on the streaming service HBO Max.
Reps for the filmmakers argued Gadot and Jenkins (among others) needed to be paid what they most likely would have received had the sequel been released in a traditional theatrical manner, according to the Times. After tense negotiations, the Times reported Warner Bros. agreed that Gadot and Jenkins would each get more than $10 million.
"It's OK to demand or to ask what you're worth … and that we shouldn't be shy about it," Gadot told USA TODAY in December about finding her voice in Hollywood. "That it's OK to say, this is my value, and this is what I want."
The deft Warner Bros. handling has become the industry gold standard.
"That was a pretty square deal, perfectly handled," says Jeff Bock, box office analyst for Exhibitor Relations. "You would have thought Disney would have taken a cue from this."
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John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, 'A Quiet Place II'
Director/producer John Krasinski and "A Quiet Place Part II" star, wife Emily Blunt, negotiated behind the scenes for their follow-up to their wildly successful 2018 horror film "A Quiet Place."
Paramount originally gave the anticipated sequel a March 2020 release date, which was scrapped with the COVID-19 theater shutdown. After multiple delays, the film was released May 28, 2021, with the biggest opening weekend of the COVID-19 pandemic, ultimately earning $295 million worldwide.
But Paramount cut the film's exclusive run in theaters to 45 days – half the traditional 90-day run – to speed up the online release on fledging streaming service Paramount+.
Blunt and Krasinski sought to have their box office based-contracts with Paramount restructured to accommodate for the difference caused by the truncated theater run, according to Bloomberg News. Asked how those studio talks had resolved, Blunt told The Hollywood Reporter in July: "We had a solely theatrical release. We were given a 45-day theatrical window. We got everything we wanted."
USA TODAY reached out to Blunt and Krasinski's representatives for further comment. Paramount declined to comment.
Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick, 'Trolls World Tour'
NBCUniversal didn't just shock theater owners in March 2020 by not notifying them in advance that it was going to offer "Trolls World Tour" in theaters and on digital platforms (at $20 a pop) a month later.
The studio also caught its own superstar voice talent, Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick, off guard with the move, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The report stated that the stars’ reps asked to be compensated for the loss of box office performance bonuses. But these reports disappeared amid a record "Trolls" opening, described by The Wall Street Journal as a three-week haul of $100 million.
"There was a kerfuffle and then it was stomped out pretty quickly," says Bock. "It behooves a studio not to air their dirty laundry out."
Timberlake and Kendrick's reps, along with Universal Studios, did not respond to a request for comment.
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Scarlett Johansson, 'Black Widow'
The "Black Widow" conflict turned legal on July 29 when Johansson's lawyers filed a Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit against Walt Disney Studios.
The lawsuit contends Johansson's contract was breached when "Black Widow" landed on the Disney+ Premier Access streaming service at the same time as its $80 million theatrical debut (making another $60 million for Disney).
"The Avengers" mainstay said her agreement with Disney's Marvel Studios guaranteed an exclusive release in movie theaters and her salary was based in large part on box-office performance, diluted by the ultimate release plan. The lawsuit further claims Johansson wanted to renegotiate her contract after learning of the "Black Widow" Disney+ release strategy but Disney and Marvel were unresponsive.
Disney responded immediately and with surprising vigor, attempting to salary shame its star by revealing Johansson's $20 million payout. A spokesperson called the lawsuit "especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic."
The company insisted it "fully complied" with Johansson's contract and that the Disney+ release "has significantly enhanced her ability to earn additional compensation on top of the $20 million she has received to date."
Bryan Lourd, co-chairman of powerhouse Creative Artists Agency and Johansson’s agent, issued a blistering response, saying Disney "shamelessly and falsely accused Ms. Johansson of being insensitive to the global COVID pandemic, in an attempt to make her appear to be someone they and I know she isn’t." He called the statement "a direct attack on her character" that's "beneath the company."
Disney came out on the losing end of this pubic relations tussle, which could explain Chapek's assurances Thursday. "This debate hasn't look good at all in the public eye for Disney, trying to make their star look like a bad person," says Heather Hansen, a trial lawyer and author of the self-help book "Advocate to Win."
Johansson's representatives did not respond to a request for comment.
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