When they each spent $3.99, or about $8, to watch the movie “Yesterday” on Amazon Prime, the two men, one from California and the other from Maryland, thought they would see their beloved actress Ana de Armas, known especially for her role. As a spy in the James Bond movie No Time to Die.
The actress initially appeared in the trailer for the Universal Pictures movie, but in the final version of Yesterday, which tells the story of a musician immersed in a parallel reality where the Beatles don’t exist, the 30-year-old is nowhere to be seen after her scenes were cut out in an edit.
This prompted the plaintiffs to file a joint lawsuit Friday for fraud, according to US media.
According to the complaint, “consumers did not receive the expected value of their rent or purchase.”
In its defence, Universal Pictures said movie trailers are protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech.
But the judge assigned to the case on Thursday rejected this argument, criticizing the huge Hollywood production company.
“Essentially, a movie trailer is an advertisement designed to sell a movie by providing the consumer with an overview” of a feature-length work, Elkady said. This allowed the launch of the judicial process against the company.
According to Agence France-Presse, the two plaintiffs in the lawsuit requested compensation of five million dollars.
Hearings in the case are scheduled to open on April 3.
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