Duncan Lay: Scarlett Johansson suing Disney inspires reality show we need right now

Scarlett Johansson is suing Disney and now there’s rumbles Emma Stone and Emily Blunt want to join her. Could this be a new reality show, Suing With The Stars? Duncan Lay asks.

Scarlett Johansson suing Disney over the way the studio sacrificed Black Widow to boost its streaming service has sent more shockwaves through the industry than The Hulk doing a belly-flop into a backyard swimming pool.

Basically Disney released Black Widow on Disney+ and into the cinemas. While it did brilliantly for the first week at the cinemas, it’s now tanking – because it is the most pirated movie in the world.

Turns out that giving people access to a first-release movie in the comfort of their own homes means pesky pirates can film it and rip it off faster than you can say: “Shiver me timbers!”

This is fascinating on many levels.

Johansson’s legal move is because her slice of the box-office pie has gone from a hefty chunk to more like what’s left over after a Biggest Loser reunion dinner.

She’s trying to get Disney to follow in the footsteps of Warner Bros, which paid about $270m in compensation to stars like Gal Gadot for releasing its films, including Wonder Woman 1984, at the cinemas and on streaming.

Scarlett Johansson has sued Disney over the release of her film Black Widow. Picture: Jay Maidment/Marvel Studios

It also has the potential to stop production houses sacrificing cinema releases for their streaming services.

Regular readers of this column will know I have been banging on about this for months now.

But things only get more interesting.

First comes news that Emma Stone and Emily Blunt want to join her in suing Disney over what was done to Cruella and Jungle Cruise, respectively. And if they succeed, more will follow.

But Disney is not going away without a fight.

It seems the only way you get extra cash out of the House Of Mouse is if you pry it out of its cold, dead, white-gloved hand.

“The lawsuit is especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the Covid-19 pandemic,” a Disney spokesman said, adding in what I imagine was a somewhat snidely tone of voice that Johansson has already earned $20m from the film.

Ouch.

Emily Blunt (pictured with Dwayne Johnson in Jungle Cruise) is also considering suing Disney. Picture: Frank Masi/Disney

This is a throwback to what Warner Bros did when James Cagney and Bette Davis sued them back in the 1930s. Then the studio claimed movie stars should not be asking for more money during the Depression.

Very quickly the organisations Women In Film, ReFrame and Time’s Up slammed Disney for getting personal in what should be a purely business case.

To be fair to Disney, I think they would have insulted a male star just the same. Scrooge McDuck doesn’t hand over moolah without a fight.

So what’s going to happen next?

I would like to think that Disney and other production houses will back off the streaming and put the effort back into cinemas.

More likely, they will just give the movie stars another million or two to keep quiet and keep going with their streaming strategy.

But I would like to propose a third way. Disney could make a reality TV show about all the lawsuits against it.

It’s got all the ingredients of a ratings success – big stars, drama and a courtroom.

We could even get Judge Judy to preside. I’d call it Suing With The Stars and each week one gets their case dismissed or approved.

I reckon it’s a winner – but if it goes ahead without me getting credit … I might have to sue.