US District Judge Stephen Wilson, in response to a class action lawsuit filed earlier this year, ruled that movie fans can sue over misleading trailers.
A US judge has ruled that moviegoers who were upset that their favorite star was cut from a movie after appearing in the trailer can sue the studio for false advertising.
Two moviegoers claim that Universal Pictures duped them into renting the 2019 movie “Yesterday” because Ana de Armas was featured in the trailer.
Conor Woulfe, 39, of Maryland, and Peter Michael Rosza, 45, of San Diego claim they paid $3.99 apiece to view the Richard Curtis comedy on Amazon Prime only to find out that de Armas had not been included in the final cut.
According to a class action lawsuit filed earlier this year, viewers were misled into thinking the Cuban “No Time To Die” star would be featured prominently.
However, according to the lawsuit, which was made public by US media on Friday, they “did not receive a movie with any appearance of Ana de Armas at all.”
As a result, the lawsuit added, “such consumers were not provided with any value for their rental or purchase.”
Trailers are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech, according to Universal, which had pleaded with US District Judge Stephen Wilson to dismiss the complaint.
Wilson, however, rejected the studio’s reasoning in his decision on Thursday, stating that trailers are commercial speech and are therefore governed by the laws governing honest advertising.
“At its core, a trailer is an advertisement designed to sell a movie by providing consumers with a preview of the movie,” the judge wrote.
A Universal representative wasn’t immediately available for comment by AFP.
At least $5 million is being sought in the lawsuit on behalf of disappointed fans.
On April 3, attorneys will meet once more to discuss the matter.
In Danny Boyle’s “Yesterday,” a musician, played by Himesh Patel, finds himself in an alternative reality where The Beatles never existed.
By releasing the Fab Four’s back catalogue as his own, he becomes a global megastar.
De Armas, 34, who previously starred in “Knives Out” in 2019, was originally cast in the film and made appearances in the trailer and certain promotional material. However, the lawsuit claims that her part was cut from the final product.