It was just a short time ago that Scarlett Johansson’s opportunity to direct a Disney movie was making front page headlines. In part, the reason was to draw more market attention to Black Widow (a movie which is now on track to lose $100 million). The announced Tower of Terror movie seems to be dead in the water as quickly as it was brought to our attention, however, as we’re hearing from backchannels (and some other site sourcing) that the movie is on indefinite hold.
Johansson’s film being essentially canceled seems to have everything to do with the lawsuit she has filed against Disney. It would be difficult to imagine the two sides working on a mutual product while an industry-rocking litigation process is taking place.
However, what we’re also hearing is that Johansson may have pulled off a very impressive trick with Tower of Terror being potentially cancelled due to a lawsuit. With Disney hemorrhaging money with each blockbuster release, and Jungle Cruise – another Disney theme park attraction movie – on track to lose around $100 million (yes, just like Black Widow)… it’s not certain that Chapek and company would have allowed Tower of Terror to go into production. In fact, it’s not a overstatement to claim that the entire industry is in a panic over blockbuster after blockbuster failing spectacularly. It isn’t sustainable.
Think about what is about to happen. Not only is Disney being sued over a movie that utterly bombed, but they’ve got two more superhero movies coming up this year. Neither The Eternals nor Shang-Chi are currently projected to perform well. They may not release in China, which would appear to be their targeted audience. That’s more huge losses on the horizon for Disney with no way to end it in sight. It probably doesn’t forecast a very happy Kevin Feige either. He’s the one guy you really don’t want to make mad at Disney.
So yes, Tower of Terror does seem to be a movie that never makes it off the first floor. But for both Disney and Johansson, maybe it’s the least painful way for it to crash…Â
