Disney Wants Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow Lawsuit Moved to Arbitration

The legal drama between Disney and Scarlett Johansson continues and it looks like the House of Mouse is eager to put a stop to it. Disney has just filed a motion demanding for the Black Widow lawsuit to be moved to arbitration.

Johansson's complaint alleges that her contract was breached when Black Widow was released on Disney+. According to the lawsuit, the Avengers: Endgame star was set to earn bonuses when Black Widow reaches certain box office performance markers.

However, this was prevented when the film was not released exclusively in theaters. Moreover, Johansson claims that the movie was given a digital release because the House of Mouse "saw the opportunity to promote its flagship subscription service."

Johansson's deal is with Marvel Studios and not Disney but Marvel is not named in the lawsuit. The suit states that Marvel was forced to breach the contract. However, Disney's lawyers Daniel Petrocelli and Leah Godeski insist in the new motion that arbitration is still applicable (via Variety).

"The plain and expansive language of the arbitration agreement easily encompasses Periwinkle's Complaint," the motion states. "In a futile effort to evade this unavoidable result (and generate publicity through a public filing), Periwinkle excluded Marvel as a party to this lawsuit––substituting instead its parent company Disney under contract-interference theories. But longstanding principles do not permit such gamesmanship."

It's no surprise that Disney has filed a motion to move arbitration. After all, the studio insists that Black Widow earned well during the pandemic era. For now, Johansson's team has yet to respond. Stay tuned for more updates on this story.

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