Scarlett Johansson will drop by Disney’s Tower of Terror after all: the Marvel star and studio on Thursday settled a breach of contract lawsuit over Black Widow. After the Avengers actor filed suit over the Marvel Studios movie’s day-and-date release on Disney+, rumors swirled online that Disney dropped Tower of Terror — a film adaptation of the Disney Parks elevator drop ride that had Johansson attached to produce and star. In a statement announcing a “mutual agreement” with the Black Widow star and producer over the suit she filed in July, Disney Studios chairman Alan Bergman confirmed Johansson’s Tower of Terror is still in the works:
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“I’m very pleased that we have been able to come to a mutual agreement with Scarlett Johansson regarding Black Widow,” said Bergman (via The Hollywood Reporter). “We appreciate her contributions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and look forward to working together on a number of upcoming projects, including Disney’s Tower of Terror.”
Said Johansson in a statement: “I am happy to have resolved our differences with Disney. I’m incredibly proud of the work we’ve done together over the years and have greatly enjoyed my creative relationship with the team. I look forward to continuing our collaboration in years to come.”
The terms of the deal are not disclosed. Johansson played Natasha Romanoff, an assassin turned Avenger, first in 2010’s Iron Man 2 before reprising the role in 2012’s The Avengers and again in such billion-plus grossers as Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War; Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame each grossed more than $2 billion worldwide.
In June, Collider reported Johansson would produce and star in a rebooted Tower of Terror scripted by Josh Cooley (Pixar’s Toy Story 4). Disney first turned the theme park thrill ride into a made-for-TV movie, starring Kirsten Dunst and Steve Guttenberg, in 1997.
Weeks after that report, Johansson filed a lawsuit alleging breach of contract over Disney’s failure to fulfill the “promise” of an exclusive theatrical release for Black Widow. The suit claimed the studio “intentionally induced Marvel’s breach of the agreement, without justification, in order to prevent Ms. Johansson from realizing the full benefit of her bargain with Marvel.”
A treatment for a big-screen Tower of Terror has existed at the studio since 2017. That version worked from a treatment by John August (Corpse Bride, Disney’s Aladdin) for producer Jim Whitaker (Pete’s Dragon, Disney’s Peter Pan & Wendy). The theme park ride, known as The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Walt Disney World, is about hotel patrols who disappear under mysterious — and supernatural — circumstances when lightning strikes their elevator.
Disney most recently turned its world-famous Jungle Cruise attraction into an action-adventure movie starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt. Past ride-to-movie adaptations include the blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, starring Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, as well as the 2003 Eddie Murphy-starring supernatural comedy Haunted Mansion.
