Universal cleared in $5M suit filed over cut Ana de Armas scenes in 2019 movie Yesterday

A judge has rejected a proposed class action lawsuit brought against the studio Universal by two fans over the presence or lack thereof of actress Ana de Armas in the 2019 movie Yesterday.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson ruled that prosecutors Conor Woulfe and Peter Michael Rosza should not proceed with the case. He said the case “has no steadfastness” and that the prosecutors “inflicted the injury on themselves.”

Woulfe and Rosza alleged in a $5 million lawsuit last year that the studio fraudulently misled them by including 35-year-old De Armas in a preview for the film and later editing her scenes.

They accused Universal in their lawsuit of false advertising, unjust enrichment and violation of unfair competition The Hollywood reporter.

Woulfe and Rosza said they spent $3.99 in rents on Amazon Prime in January 2022 specifically to see scenes with de Armas, who appeared in 15 seconds in a three-plus-minute trailer for the Danny Boyle directed fantasy comedy.

Prosecutors alleged in a $5 million lawsuit filed last year that the studio fraudulently misled them by including De Armas in a preview for the film and later editing her scenes.

Woulfe said he then rented a director’s cut of the film from Google Play in hopes of seeing the scenes with de Armas.

On Monday, the judge said in legal filings that the plaintiffs were not relying on the alleged misrepresentations in pursuing their decision to rent and watch the film.

In their legal complaint, Woulfe and Rosza pointed to cast lists in which De Armas was part of the film’s ensemble, starring Himesh Patel, Lily James and Sophia Di Martino.

The judge said in legal documents that Universal has not released statements that allegedly led Woulfe to pay several times to watch the film, with the idea of ​​seeing de Armas.

The judge said the studio did not mislead the plaintiffs into thinking that the “version of Yesterday they watched on Google Play would be a different version of the movie” they saw on Amazon Prime.

According to the outlet, De Armas was initially supposed to play a romantic interest for Patel’s Jack Malik character, and a frame in the trailer featured de Armas and Patel on James Corden’s former program, The Late Late Show.

In the plaintiffs’ complaint, they accused Universal of exploiting the scuttled footage of the Armas to maximize box office revenue for the film.

“Unable to rely on the fame of the actors playing Jack Malik or Ellie to maximize ticket and movie sales and rentals,” the plaintiffs said, “Universal” consequently “used Ms. De’s fame, charisma and brilliance.” Armas to promote the film by including her scenes in the movie trailers promoting Yesterday.”

A frame in the trailer depicted Armas and Himesh Patel appearing on James Corden’s former program, The Late Late Show

Armas (pictured in 2023) was featured in a 15-second long trailer for the Danny Boyle-directed fantasy comedy.

Judge Wilson said in December 2022 that studios could be sued for false advertising if their trailers are misleading.

Universal claimed that trailers enjoy “free speech” protections under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and should be considered “non-commercial.”

But Judge Wilson ruled that they were subject to commercial expression rules, including the California False Advertising Law and the state’s Unfair Competition Law, reported Variety.

He wrote, “Universal is right that trailers involve some creativity and editorial discretion, but this creativity is outweighed by the commercial nature of a trailer.

“At its core, a trailer is an advertisement designed to sell a movie by providing consumers with a preview of the movie.”

The film studio said the ruling could be incriminating and could lead to lawsuits from disappointed fans, pointing out that other films, such as Jurassic Park, also contain footage not seen in the final cut of the film.

The film stars Patel as musician Jack Malik, who discovers that after a mysterious global blackout, everyone has forgotten The Beatles existed. After reintroducing their songs to the world, he becomes famous.

De Armas, who has 12.6 million Instagram followers and can also be seen in the Marylin Monroe film Blonde, would play his initial love interest Roxane and would be serenaded by Jack singing the Beatles song Something on James Corden’s show .

Writer Richard Curtis cut her role from the film to prevent her character from undermining his primary love interest, Ellie, played by Lily James. From left to right: Himesh Patel, who plays lead character Jack, Miss James and director Danny Boyle at the June 2019 premiere of Yesterday

Yesterday, Himesh Patel stars as Jack Malik, a musician who discovers that after a mysterious global blackout, everyone has forgotten The Beatles existed

Writer Richard Curtis cut her role from the final film, saying fans would be upset if her character took away Malik’s primary love interest, Ellie, played by Lily James.

The prosecutors claimed in the lawsuit that more fans will be disappointed because De Armas didn’t make the final edit.

Judge Wilson said the ruling was limited to whether an actor or scene would appear in the film and “nothing else.”

said Curtis Cinema mix in June 2019: ‘That was a very traumatic cut because she was brilliant at it. You know, it’s one of those things where it’s some of our favorite scenes from the movie, but we had to cut them out for the sake of the whole.”