TSG Entertainment – the movie financier behind Avatar 2 and Deadpool – is suing Disney for “robbing millions of dollars” in a lawsuit similar to that of Scarlett Johansson
- TSG Entertainment filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday
- Claims Disney used “accounting tricks” to rob it of millions in revenue
- The suit is similar in some ways to one previously filed by Scarlett Johansson
The film company that co-financed hits like Avatar: The Way of Water and the Deadpool franchise has filed a lawsuit accusing Disney of breach of contract.
TSG Entertainment filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday alleging that Disney subsidiary Twentieth Century Studios deliberately withheld profits at the expense of its partners.
The lawsuit, similar to an actress Scarlett Johansson filed in 2021, also accuses Disney and its subsidiary of slashing sweetheart deals to boost their streaming platforms Hulu and Disney+ rather than maximizing profits for movie financiers.
TSG claimed in the lawsuit that Disney and Twentieth Century Studios “tried almost every trick in Hollywood’s accounting book” to deprive it of “hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com Tuesday afternoon.
The film company that co-financed hits like Avatar: The Way of Water (above) and the Deadpool franchise has filed a lawsuit accusing Disney of breach of contract
Disney CEO Bob Iger is seen above. TSG Entertainment filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, alleging that Disney deliberately withheld profits
TSG claimed that an audit found “rampant self-dealing” and “accounting tricks” that resulted in $40 million underpayment for three classified films.
The lawsuit also alleges that a recent deal allowing the simultaneous release of movies on Disney+ and Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max platform lowers TSG’s potential profit.
The attorney who represented TSG in the lawsuit, John Berlinski of the law firm Bird Marella, also represented Johansson when the actress sued Disney.
In some ways, TSG’s claims are similar to Johansson’s, who claimed she lost more than $50 million as a result of Black Widow being released on Disney+ at the same time as its theatrical debut.
The actress claimed that she was guaranteed Black Widow would have an exclusive theatrical release.
Her lawsuit claimed that most of her salary was based on box office performance, but Disney countered that Johansson was paid $20 million for the film anyway.
The lawsuit is similar to that of an actress Scarlett Johansson filed against Disney in 2021
Just a few months after Johansson filed her lawsuit, it was quickly settled out of court on undisclosed terms.
Founded in 2013, TSG co-finances the production and marketing costs of films in exchange for a percentage of the gross receipts after the film’s release.
The company has co-financed approximately 140 films with Twentieth Century Studios, including Gone Girl, The Shape Of Water, and JoJo Rabbit.
Disney inherited an existing deal between Twentieth Century Fox and TSG when it acquired the studio, now Twentieth Century Studios, in 2019.