By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Disney stock (NYSE:DIS) rose 3.5% Friday as the entertainment giant settled a dispute with Scarlett Johansson over the release of Black Widow.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
Johansson had taken the company to court in July against its decision to stream the movie on Disney+ platform at the same time as its theatrical release, a move she said was in violation of the contract between the two parties. She claimed that the studio sacrificed the film’s box-office collections to boost its fledgling streaming service. Disney countered that Johansson was paid $20 million for the film.
The case was a much-watched one given the implications it had for everybody -- from studios to stars. As streaming has come to occupy its unshakeable place, studios are now confronted with timing their box-office releases and streaming rollouts.
Black Widow earned $379 million at the worldwide box office to date, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
While the company has to share about half of revenue from theater ticket sales, it keeps all of the revenue from its digital platform. Black Widow was the first Marvel film Disney released to theaters in more than two years.
The movie began its international rollout on July 7, a Wednesday, while the U.S. preview happened the next day, a day before its release in the country. At that time, Disney claimed the online sales generated more than $60 million globally through its direct-to-consumer Disney+ Premier Access platform over Thursday to Sunday.