Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit against Disney over Black Widow is apparently having a ripple effect at the movie giant. The Wall Street Journal reports that directors Joe Russo and Anthony Russo, who directed Avengers: Endgame, were talking to Marvel about making another Marvel film, but the brothers “hit an impasse in negotiations.”
“The Johansson dispute left them unsure how their next movie would be distributed and how they would be paid, according to people familiar with the matter,” WSJ reported, adding that the brothers declined to comment on the report.
That is all of the information that WSJ had on matter, so we don’t know anything about what the rumored Marvel movie might have been. And just because negotiations might have stalled, that doesn’t necessarily mean the project–whatever it might be–is scrapped for good.
The Russo brothers have directed Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. All of these movies were massively successful at the box office, so it makes sense that Disney would want to stay in business with them. But Johansson’s lawsuit, which pertains to how Black Widow was released on Disney+ with Premier Access in addition to theatrically, seemingly caused the brothers to rethink things, at least in some capacity, according to the report.
Movie stars can make huge amounts of money if their payment contracts are tied to box office results. Just recently, Emma Stone received an “additional payment” as part of her negotiations for Cruella 2 as a result of the first film releasing simultaneously in theaters and on Disney+, according to WSJ. The site added that WarnerMedia paid more than $200 million in deals for actors and directors as a result of its plan to release all WB movies in 2021 both in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously due to the pandemic.
The full story is stacked with many more details, so be sure to read the full thing here at WSJ.
