Movie studios are on notice after a federal judge ruled against Universal Pictures in a false advertising lawsuit over the trailer for Danny Boyle‘s 2019 film “Yesterday.” Variety reports that U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson ruled in favor of two Ana de Armas fans who filed the lawsuit in January. Their stance? They rented “Yesterday” after seeing de Armas in the trailer, only to discover all of her scenes were cut from the final film.
“Universal is correct that trailers involve some creativity and editorial discretion, but this creativity does not outweigh the commercial nature of a trailer,” Wilson wrote in his December 20 ruling. “At its core, a trailer is an advertisement designed to sell a movie by providing consumers with a preview of the movie.” Universal wanted to throw out the lawsuit, arguing that the First Amendment entitles movie trailers to broad protection, and that trailers are “artistic, expressive work” that tells a two or three-minute story that conveys a movie’s themes. But Wilson rejected Universal’s argument, as he finds a trailer is “commercial speech” and therefore subject to the California False Adverting Law and the state’s Unfair Competition Law.
Universal also argued that classifying trailers as commercial speech potentially opens up the floodgates for other lawsuits by disappointed moviegoers. In their eyes, if all trailers classify as commercial speech, then any moviegoer could sue a studio when a film doesn’t live up to the high expectations a trailer creates. When Wilson addressed that concern, he reasoned that the false advertising law applies only when “a significant portion” of “reasonable consumers” could be misled. “The Court’s holding is limited to representations as to whether an actress or scene is in the movie, and nothing else,” wrote Wilson, saying that, based on the trailer for “Yesterday,” it’s plausible that viewers would expect de Armas to have large role in the movie.
“Yesterday” stars Himesh Patel as Jack, a struggling singer-songwriter who wakes up in a world where no one remembers songs by The Beatles except him, and he becomes famous after reintroducing their songs to pop culture. Patel originally meets de Armas’ character on James Corden‘s talk show, with Jack seranading her with the Beatles song “Something.” Eventually, however, Boyle cut de Armas from the film because, according to screenwriter Richard Curtis, test audiences didn’t like the idea of Jack having eyes for anyone other than his primary love interest, Lily James. ““I think the audience did not like the fact that his eyes even strayed,” Curtis told CinemaBlend in 2019.
So, thanks to the ruling of Judge Wilson, plaintiffs Conor Woulfe of Maryland and Peter Michael Rosza of California are one step closer to receiving the $5 million their lawsuit claims they’re owed. Both men paid $3.99 each to rent “Yesterday” on Amazon Prime Video. The case proceeds to discovery and motion for class certification after Wilson’s December 20 ruling. Who knows if Woulfe and Rosza will ultimately win their lawsuit, but expect this ruling to have studios on their guard regarding future trailers having cut material in them. Watch a deleted scene from “Yesterday” with Ana de Armas below.
