An earthquake in Hollywood. Due to a major lawsuit involving Ana de Armas, theAmerican film industry is currently shaking to its foundations. Despite this,the star actress did not even act in it Yesterday the film that is at theroot of all the fuss.
In short, in Yesterday we follow the musical career of a man who suddenlyawakens in an alternate universe where no one has ever heard of The Beatles.He senses an opportunity and decides to make the numbers himself Fab Four onthe John Lennon-less world, under his own name, of course.
Look who gets serenaded around the second minute of the trailer above: Ana deArmas. Only the Cuban-Spanish Bond girl and Blonde actress ultimately does notappear in the final version of the film. And that was not to the liking of twoof her fans.
Lawsuit against Universal over cut scene
Small role or not, Ana de Armas’s star seems to be reaching greater andgreater heights. Two aggrieved fans of the actress couldn’t stomach the factthat Universal had finally decided to put her (only) serenade scene in_Yesterday_ to delete. The duo then filed a lawsuit against the Hollywoodstudio and a judge has now ruled in their favor. According to the court, thereis indeed misleading advertising.
“Universal is right that trailers involve some creativity and editorialdiscretion. But this creativity does not outweigh the commercial character ofa trailer. Essentially, a trailer is an advertisement intended to sell a movieby giving the consumer a preview,” the judge’s ruling clearly states.
The deleted scene (Image: Universal)
Lawyers for Universal argued that trailers are not commercial but artistic innature and that this lawsuit could spark a litany of lawsuits from disgruntledviewers. The judge was not convinced. He clarified that the court’s ruling islimited only to circumstances where a trailer advertises an actor whoultimately does not appear in the film. As in the case of Yesterday where itwas “likely” that Ana de Armas would play a role in the movie based on thetrailer.
Consequences of court case involving Ana de Armas
When the plaintiffs each paid $3.99 to Yesterday to rent on Amazon Prime,they were disappointed not to see Ana de Armas in the film despite thetrailer, unaware that the actress had been cut from the film. The two men aredemanding at least $5 million from Universal on behalf of themselves and otheraffected consumers. The court will decide on the size of the amount due at alater date. But in any case, the ruling puts a bomb under Hollywood.
Trailers are often assembled before the end product is ready. In the monthsbetween the trailer and release, filmmakers or studios may make new creativedecisions, including cutting roles and scenes. With this new regulation, thefilm industry will have to be extra careful with this.