The 2019 Universal movie, Yesterday, imagined a world where the Beatles never existed for nobody for one man and he used this advantage to become a beloved musician. And in the movie’s trailer, Blonde and Knives Out actress Ana de Armas was teased to be among it stars. Since de Armas was cut from the actual film, two fans decided to sue a class action lawsuit back in January. A decision has now been made by a federal judge and it could impact the film industry going forward.
U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson has ruled that movie studios can be sued under false advertising laws if they release a deceptive movie trailer like Yesterday, per Variety. While Universal argued that it was entitled to protection under the First Amendment, the judge found that a trailer is commercial speech and thus subject to the California False Advertising Law and Unfair Competition Law. As Wilson wrote:
Universal is correct that trailers involve some creativity and editorial discretion, but this creativity does not outweigh 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.
Lawyers for Universal argued that if it was ruled that trailers were considered “commercial speech” rather than the “artistic, expressive work” they defined it as, tons more lawsuits from unsatisfied moviegoers with subjective claims could follow. However, Wilson clarified that the court’s holding would only be limited to circumstances regarding whether an actor or scene advertised in the trailer is in the movie. Such as in the case of Yesterday, where it was “plausible” Ana de Armas would have a role to play in the movie based on the trailer, which you can check out below:
Nearly two-minutes into the trailer, Ana de Armas sits next to Himesh Patel’s protagonist during an appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden and he serenades “Something” to her. According to Yesterday’s writer, Richard Curtis, the scene was cut because audiences were not happy with the idea of Patel’s character straying away from the love story between him and Lily James’ character.
More to come…
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