Here’s a wild one: Yesterday fans sued Universal for a whopping $5 million after renting the movie, expecting to see Ana de Armas, only to find out her scene had been cut. Yep, you heard that right! According to the Hollywood Reporter, Conor Woulfe and Peter Rosza, both fans of the Cuban actress, rented the 2019 film after spotting de Armas in the trailer. They were hyped to see her play a love interest in a scene with Jack Malik (Himesh Patel). But when they hit play, guess what? No Ana! Not a single frame.
So, what did they do next? Filed a class action lawsuit, naturally. The duo claimed Universal had used “deceptive marketing” by including de Armas in Yesterday’s trailer, only to cut her entirely from the final release. They even threw in a $5 million price tag for their trouble. The lawsuit states, “Because consumers were promised a movie with Ana de Armas by the trailer for Yesterday but did not receive a movie with any appearance of Ana de Armas at all, such consumers were not provided with any value for their rental or purchase.” Harsh, right?
But here’s the kicker. It’s not like they left out de Armas to improve the movie. According to screenwriter Richard Curtis, cutting her scene was actually pretty painful. He called it “very traumatic,” especially since de Armas was “brilliant” in the role. The problem? Test audiences didn’t take too kindly to Jack’s wandering eye when he meets de Ana de Armas’ character in LA. Curtis explained that people didn’t like the idea of Jack even considering someone else. They didn’t want him to mess up the perfect romance between Jack and Lily (played by Lily James). So, they axed the scene to save the vibe.
Still, the damage was done. Fans felt duped, and they weren’t having it. The lawsuit didn’t hold back on praising de Armas’ “fame, radiance, and brilliance,” claiming Universal used her star power to hype up the movie, even though she didn’t appear in it. It’s kind of genius marketing, though, but totally misleading when you think about it.
Now, Universal is staying quiet about the whole thing. Maybe they’re hoping this one will blow over. But the entire saga left a lot of fans questioning the ethics of movie marketing. They weren’t just promised a star; they were promised a scene. As for de Ana de Armas? She’s probably sitting pretty, knowing she still has a massive fanbase, even if she didn’t make it into Yesterday. Talk about pulling a fast one on Universal!
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