$5 million lawsuit filed by Ana de Armas fans over $3.99 Yesterday rental thrown out by judge
The judge didn't believe the movie's trailer was "misleading"
Yesterday, $5 million didn't seem so far away. Now, two Ana de Armas fans who sued Universal for misleading advertising for the movie Yesterday have had their lawsuit thrown out of court by a judge – for good.
In January 2022, Paul Michael Rosza and Conor Woulfe paid $3.99 to rent the movie on Prime Video under the impression that de Armas would be in it. However, despite appearing in the trailer, her scenes were cut from the final version of the movie, and the fans sought damages of at least $5 million.
In the most recent hearing, the judge rejected their notion of "misrepresentation" concerning de Armas' absence from the movie and agreed with Universal Studios that the case is a "self-inflicted injury" (via Deadline). What's more, one fan rented the movie again after the lawsuit had already begun, this time from Google Play, claiming new "misrepresentations on Google".
"Plaintiff Woulfe has offered no explanation as to why he believed that version of Yesterday they accessed on Google Play would be a different version of the movie they accessed on Amazon," the judge responded.
"This is the third time that [Rosza and Woulfe have] amended their complaint, and it shall be the last," he concluded.
Directed by Danny Boyle, Yesterday follows struggling musician Jack (Himesh Patel), who finds that he is the only person in the world who remembers The Beatles and rises to fame after reintroducing their songs to the world as his own.
Screenwriter Richard Curtis decided to cut de Armas' character from the final version of the script as he didn't want Jack to stray too far from his primary love interest, Ellie, played by Lily James.
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De Armas' next project is the John Wick spin-off Ballerina, which is set to hit the big screen on June 7, 2024. In the meantime, check out our guide to the other best upcoming movies on the way, this year and beyond.
I’m an Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.