I'm not a legal expert, but I bet Disney will win this case. If I had to guess, there is probably some sort of clause in the contract that states that the movie could be distributed through streaming for its initial release under special circumstances (of which the coronavirus pandemic would qualify).
If this isn't the case, then Disney are idiots for not just releasing the movie to theaters, such as the industry is (with staff shortages, less showtimes, less theaters and (most importantly, in my view) crowd restrictions), then giving it the Disney+ release, when most people would theoretically be able to (legally) see it for the first time and the contract would be honored.
judging by disney's official PR response and subsequent actors (like Emma Stone and Gerard Butler) coming out and suing their studios it sounds like Disney might not have that clause written down lol
I'm not a legal expert, but I bet Disney will win this case. If I had to guess, there is probably some sort of clause in the contract that states that the movie could be distributed through streaming for its initial release under special circumstances (of which the coronavirus pandemic would qualify).
If this isn't the case, then Disney are idiots for not just releasing the movie to theaters, such as the industry is (with staff shortages, less showtimes, less theaters and (most importantly, in my view) crowd restrictions), then giving it the Disney+ release, when most people would theoretically be able to (legally) see it for the first time and the contract would be honored.
judging by disney's official PR response and subsequent actors (like Emma Stone and Gerard Butler) coming out and suing their studios it sounds like Disney might not have that clause written down lol