ans van Ana de Armas found problems were not that far away when they paid to have the Beatles-inspired movie Only seen yesterday, the actress was not, as the trailer promised, in the final cut.
Now an American judge has given two plaintiffs the chance to sue the studio Universal for false advertising of the 2019 film.
Conor Woulfe and Peter Michael Rosza paid $3.99 (£3.31) to rent on Amazon Prime yesterday after watching a scene in the trailer where main character Jack (Himesh Patel) appears on The Late Late Show With James Corden on the couch next to a character played by Knives Out actress de Armas.
But they were so angry that the Danny Boyle-directed movie, in which struggling musician Jack becomes a global star when all traces of The Beatles are zapped from Earth, they took legal action.
California District Judge Stephen Wilson ruled on Friday that Woulfe and Rosza can go ahead with their bid to sue Universal for $5 million (£4.1 million), which they say is a “class action”.
Universal failed in its attempt to reject the offer, arguing that movie trailers should be protected under the US First Amendment – which gives rights to freedom of speech. They also said trailers often use footage that was not included in the final film, such as Jurassic Park – which has been completely re-edited.
But Judge Wilson decided that because a trailer advertises a movie, it should be considered “commercial speech” as opposed to the “non-commercial speech” advocated by Universal. He said that because de Armas was featured prominently, any viewer would expect her to appear in the final cut.
The film’s screenwriter Richard Curtis later explained that her scenes, in which Jack serenades the character of the Armas, were edited out so as not to distract the storyline from the primary love interest played by Lily James.
Universal said this could open the door to future lawsuits from disgruntled fans, or even those looking to monetize a movie.
Woulfe and Rosza’s lawsuit is now moving to discovery and a motion for class certification.