Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will not be taking the Scarlett Johansson route following the Video On Demand release of his new film, it has been claimed.
Like Johansson’s Marvel entry Black Widow, Johnson’s new film Jungle Cruise was released simultaneously in cinemas and Disney+ Premier for $29.99 last Friday (July 30). Deadline reports that Jungle Cruise had bought in $91.8million across its opening weekend from both the box office and Disney+ revenue.
Whereas Johansson filed a lawsuit against Disney for alleged breach of contract on its failure to deliver an exclusive wide theatrical release on Black Widow, Deadline claimed that Johnson has “no intention” of doing the same for any anticipated loss of dollars on the day-and-date release.
Cinema owners in the US criticised Disney+ for poor box office returns on Black Widow following its release.
Without a hybrid release, the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) said, via Variety, that Black Widow would have secured a much larger opening weekend with a return of $92 (£67.6million) to $100million (£73.5million).
The following week, Johansson launched a legal battle against Disney following the company’s decision to release Black Widow on its streaming service at the same time it landed in cinemas.
The lawsuit claims that the move has heavily impacted ticket sales of the Avengers spinoff. Attorneys representing Johansson allege that the decision to simultaneously release the film Disney+ represented a breach of contract.
Disney has released a statement regarding Johansson’s actions.
“There is no merit whatsoever to this filing,” it read.
“Disney has fully complied with Ms. Johansson’s contract and furthermore, the release of Black Widow on Disney+ with Premier Access has significantly enhanced her ability to earn additional compensation on top of the $20million she has received to date.”
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