A trailer is essentially an advertisement that provides a preview of a movie to consumers.

Universal will be forced to say "Let it Be" as a result of a federal judge's ruling that movie studios can be sued for false advertising in movie trailers. This decision follows a lawsuit regarding Universal's 2019 film "Yesterday," which didn't feature Ana de Armas, but star Ana de Armas. It was not what the trailer teased.

Paul Michael Rosza, and Conor Woulfe, were de Armas' fans. They filed a class-action lawsuit against Universal for $5 million after discovering that the actress was not in the Danny Boyle-directed romantic comedy. The men claimed they rented the film after seeing de Armas' trailer. Rosza and Woulfe were not happy with the movie's de Armas role and claimed that the advertisement was misleading, false, and deceptive.

The lawsuit was filed by two Universal fans. Lawyers for the studio tried to dismiss it, claiming that movie trailers were protected by the First Amendment. Deadline reports that U.S. District Judge Steven Wilson denied Universal's motion Tuesday.

California judge declared that trailers "constitute commercial speech" and said that the lawsuit could proceed "without offending the First Amendment."

Wilson stated that while Universal is right to say trailers require some creativity and editorial discretion but that this creativity doesn't outweigh its commercial nature. A trailer is essentially an advertisement that provides a preview of a movie to consumers.

Per Deadline, he wrote in the suit. Universal has stated that there is no noncommercial speech that could be intertwined or incorporated with the trailer. The inextricably intertwined exception from the commercial speech doctrine doesn't apply. The trailer being false and commercial speech is a plausible claim by Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs can proceed with their claims, without violating the First Amendment.

Wilson noted, "The Court's holdings are limited to representations about whether an actress or scene appears in the movie, but nothing else."

TooFab reached out to Universal for comments.

Richard Curtis wrote "Yesterday" about Jack Malik (Himesh Ptel), who wakes up from a head injury to discover that he is the only person in the world who has heard of The Beatles' music.

According to CinemaBlend, Jack's love interest is Ellie played by Lily James. Roxanne de Armas, Roxanne's cut character, was originally going to be between them, according to CinemaBlend.

Curtis spoke to the outlet about the decision to remove de Armas from the film and the subplot.

"That was a very traumatizing cut because she was brilliant in that. The screenwriter said that she meant radiant. "And that was the problem... I think Ellie and Jack like the story and will follow it. It works well. We had originally, I don’t want to say too much about it, had Ana de Armas as a complicating element when Jack arrived in L.A.

Curtis said, "I think that the audience didn't like the fact his eyes even strayed." Because then people might say, "Oh, he doesn't deserve her." He doesn't really deserve Lily. It's one those scenes that we love, but had to be cut for the good of the entire film.

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Title: Film Studios Can Be Sued Over False Advertising in Trailers, Judge Rules in Ana de Armas Lawsuit
Sourced From: toofab.com/2022/12/23/film-studios-can-be-sued-over-false-advertising-in-trailers-judge-rules-ana-de-armas-lawsuit/
Published Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2022 18:40:41 +0000

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