Amongst the ongoing turmoil between Scarlett Johansson and Disney over compensation for Black Widow, Emma Stone has signed on for Cruella 2!
The Hollywood Reporter states that director Craig Gillespie and screenwriter Tony McNamara are returning for the prequel follow-up about the thief turned socialite villainess Cruella De Vil whose story is inspired by 101 Dalmatians. Like Cruella, Black Widow premiered in theatres as well as on Disney. This is the reason why Johansson wants to go to court over money.
Johansson’s lawsuit claims that her contract was breached when Black Widow debuted on Disney+ on the same day as theatres. After the official announcement of the suit, Disney responded with a strong, incendiary comment calling her claims “especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
CEO Bob Chapek weighed in on the situation recently, stating, “I will say that since COVID has begun, we’ve entered into hundreds of talent arrangements with our talent. And by and large, they’ve gone very, very smoothly. So we expect that that would be the case going forward.”
The case between actress and media conglomerate has Hollywood buzzing, and everyone has something to add to the discussion. “While the media landscape has been disrupted in a meaningful way for all distributors, their creative partners cannot be left on the sidelines to carry a disproportionate amount of the downside without the potential for upside,” said Patrick Whitesell, Executive Chairman of Endeavour of WME client Stone’s deal. “This agreement demonstrates that there can be an equitable path forward that protects artists and aligns studios’ interests with talent.”
Rumours swirled that Stone was also contemplating suing Disney for reasons similar to Johansson, but this casting announcement squashes that theory. Clearly, Disney is being careful with their contracts and how talent gets paid to prevent something like this from happening in the future. Stone must have liked the details enough to say yes to a Cruella sequel.