Arm wrestling between Scarlett Johansson and Disney on "Black Widow"

Black Widow has a new name on its killlist.

The star of Marvel's latest film, Scarlett Johansson, has decided to sue Disney, claiming the media giant violated the terms of its contract by offering

to stream on Disney + on the same day as in theaters.

Johansson, who was the production manager of the film, with compensation indexed to her box office performance, estimates that Disney's decision could cost her nearly $ 50 million in the long run, according to the

.

Black Widow

put in a decent performance on release, scoring $ 80 million at the box office in early July, breaking the post-Covid record set by

,

to which must be added $ 60 million collected - worldwide - on Disney Plus, with a film available for purchase for $ 30.

Streaming War

But now, since then, the adventures of Natasha Romanov have plunged, with a total of 157 million dollars at the American box office in three weeks. That's about half as much as

and three times less than

over the same length of time. One point remains difficult to determine: is this relative underperformance explained above all by the availability of streaming or by the reluctance of spectators to the idea of ​​meeting in an enclosed space, with rooms that can now reopen? at full capacity in the United States. Without checking, for the most part, the immunization status of each one.

In Hollywood, all eyes will be on this standoff between Scarlett Johansson and Disney.

Before her, Denis Villeneuve sharply criticized HBO and Warner for the simultaneous streaming-theaters release of

, believing that it could jeopardize his chances of making a sequel if the film did not achieve a hit in the fall.

There is, however, one notable difference with Disney: Warner renegotiated many contracts after deciding to offer all of his blockbusters simultaneously on HBO Max.

High-Tech

"Black Widow": Disney + achieves $ 60 million in revenue from the film

• Movie theater