Movie studios can be sued for misleading trailers

A federal judge ruled this week that movie studios can be sued under false advertising laws. if they post misleading movie trailers.

The US District Judge Stephen Wilson issued the ruling in a case involving the 2019 film “Yesterday”. Two fans of Ana de Armas filed a lawsuit in January, claiming they had rented”Yesterday» after seeing de Armas in the trailer, only to find out that she was cut from the final film.

They each paid $3.99 to rent”Yesterday» on Amazon Prime and are seeking at least $5 million as representatives of a class of movie customers.

Universal he argued that accepting such a case could open the door to a parade of demands from dissatisfied moviegoers, who might make a subjective claim that a film did not live up to the expectations created by the trailer.

De Armas was originally supposed to act in “Yesterday» as a love interest for the film’s protagonist, played by Himesh Patel. Richard Curtis later admitted that de Armas was removed because audiences did not like the idea of ​​Patel’s character straying from his main love interest, played by Lily James.