Ana de Armas’s fans sue Universal Studios over ‘deceptive’ Yesterday trailer; See details

California U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson Tuesday ruled that movie studios can be sued under false advertising laws if they release misleading movie trailers. The decision was made regarding a lawsuit involving Danny Boyle’s movie ‘Yesterday’ that featured Ana de Armas in the movie’s trailer but not in the final cut. Two Ana de Armas fans filed a lawsuit regarding the false advertising against the film studio, Universal Studios.

Conor Woulfe and Peter Michael Rosza, the plaintiffs, paid $3.99 to rent the movie on Amazon Prime and were left disappointed when they did not find the actor Ana de Armas in it. The pair are now seeking around $5 million from Universal Studios.

Ana de Armas was at first a part of the script of ‘Yesterday’, which is a rom-com about a man, who wakes up in a world where ‘The Beatles’ never existed and climbs towards success by appropriating their songs. She was eventually cut from the film because the test audience reacted negatively to her presence, making the protagonist stray away from his central relationship. Therefore, her entire story arc was deleted from the final cut.



Universal argued against the lawsuit by saying that it would “open the floodgates” to cases from movie audiences, who would call filmmakers out for being deceitful due to their subjective interpretation. The basis of their argument was that movie trailers are an artistic piece that had no commercial intention. But the ruling was not sympathetic to their argument as the Judge established that trailers are intended to promote a movie. From that perspective, de Armas’s absence in the film was misleading and must be interpreted as false advertising.

Woulfe and Rosza’s suit remains ongoing as the pair would now proceed to discovery phase and a motion for it to be classified as a class-action lawsuit.

FAQs:

1. When did ‘Yesterday’ release?
   ‘Yesterday’ released in theaters on June 28, 2019.
2. What are the current viewing options to watch ‘Yesterday’?
   ‘Yesterday’ is available for streaming on Amazon Prime, Apple TV and Google Play Movies.