Mumbai, Feb. 22 -- In a move that sent shockwaves through Hollywood, Scarlett Johansson took on the entertainment giant Disney, challenging the dual release model of her long-awaited film Black Widow. This legal battle not only underscored the seismic shifts in the industry's distribution strategies amid the pandemic but also highlighted the mounting tensions between traditional cinema and the burgeoning realm of streaming services.

At the heart of the dispute was Disney's decision to release Black Widow simultaneously in theaters and on its streaming platform, Disney+, a strategy that deviated from the norm and directly impacted the film's box office performance. Despite opening to a pandemic-era record of $80 million, the movie's reven...