Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow lawsuit, Disney's decision broke Johansson's contract and would result in her lowards of $50M.
The Black Widow lawsuit saga got nasty in the public eye, as Johansson's lawyers and Disney's representatives shared multiple strongly-worded statements. At one point, Disney attempted to make Johansson look like the bad guy in this situation due to the severity of COVID-19 and since she was already paid $20M to star in and produce Black Widow. Most of Hollywood and outside observers sided with Johansson, though. The Black Widow lawsuit is now over after Johansson and Disney agreed to settle their differences before this case got to court.
of the agreement between Johansson and Disney that led to a settlement were not immediately disclosed, but now Deadline has revealed how much money the Black Widow star got from the Mouse House. The outlet has heard that Disney will pay Johansson $40M as part of settling the lawsuit. Johansson reportedly won't receive the entire total as a lump sum, as she'll instead be compensated in multiple payments from Disney.
Johansson earning $40M from the Black Widow lawsuit is a major win for the former MCU star. The estimated $50M in lost earnings Johansson's team cited earlier were based on how well the movie would perform at the box office in a non-pandemic landscape. So far, Black Widow's box office total has grown to $387M, but Premier Access sales on Disney+ reportedly push the film's total well above $500M. That is still much lower than what Black Widow would've been expected to earn prior to COVID-19. Johansson is a massive star and could've pushed the movie to be the latest $1 billion MCU hit. It would seem that Disney is paying Johansson as if the movie hit those benchmarks.
Now that Johansson has earned the major payday she deserves for Black Widow, it should be smooth sailing from here between her and Disney. She is still expected to be Jungle Cruise 2 returns.
Source: Deadline
