- Lawsuit Dismissed After Actress Ana de Armas Cut from Film
- Fans Accused Universal Pictures of False Advertising
- Judge Cites “Self-Inflicted” Condition for Dismissal
A judge in the United States dismissed a lawsuit filed by Ana de Armas’s admirers after the actress was cut from a film despite appearing in the trailer.
The 2019 Yesterday trailer, which Conor Woulfe and Peter Michael Rosza leased for $3.99 (£3.16), included the Knives Out star.
However, when they discovered that de Armas was absent, they accused Universal Pictures of false advertising.
The judge denied their claim, citing their “self-inflicted” condition.
The Danny Boyle-directed Beatles film starring Himesh Patel, Lily James, and Ed Sheeran grossed $155 million (£122 million) worldwide.
A trailer released months before the film’s release depicted Patel’s character flirting with de Armas’s character on a talk show.
Richard Curtis, the screenwriter, explained that the actress was cut because test audiences did not like the concept of Patel’s character straying from his primary love interest, played by James.
He stated in 2019 that it was a “very traumatic cut” because de Armas was “brilliant” in the part.
However, her absence prompted Mr. Woulfe and Mr. Rosza to claim they were “deceived” by Universal Pictures. As they would not have rented the film if they had known de Armas would not be in it.
The couple wanted $5 million (£3.9 million) from Universal on behalf of other unhappy fans.
They claimed that the studio “used Ms. De Armas’s fame, radiance, and brilliance to promote Yesterday by including her scenes in movie trailers.”
No trailer included an actor or actress who did not appear in the promoted picture, according to the plaintiffs.
Mr. Woulfe claimed he was tricked again after renting the film on Google Play, where de Armas was identified as a cast member. Mr. Woulfe stated that he believed de Armas could be included in that version if it was a director’s cut.
However, the court determined that the plaintiff lacked “standing” to file suit because his “injury was self-inflicted.”
Judge Stephen Wilson also stated that there was no reason to assume that the “version of Yesterday they accessed on Google Play would be a different version of the movie” than the version they initially viewed on Amazon.
As Mr. Woulfe had already viewed Yesterday on Amazon Prime, the judge declared that his claim that the film had been misrepresented was “not plausible,” adding that the plaintiff’s case had explicitly stated that de Armas “is not and has never been in the publicly released version of Yesterday.”
Universal’s attorneys contended that a trailer is a “artistic, expressive work” that offers a three-minute story about the film’s topic.
They noted that Jurassic Park and other trailers often contain footage that does not appear in the film.
The judge found that the plaintiffs didn’t watch Yesterday since Universal claimed de Armas appeared.
