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Two Ana de Armas fans filed a $5 million federal class action lawsuit against Universal. They claimed they were tricked into renting the 2019 movie Yesterday, as a character played by their favorite star, who was present in the trailer of the movie, was entirely removed from the final cut.
Maryland resident Conor Woulfe, 38, and Peter Michael Rosza, 44, of California, who rented the movie for $3.99 on Amazon Prime, alleged that they were duped into renting the movie through deceptive marketing.
Everything about the lawsuit filed by Ana de Armas fans
The 2019 rom-com stars Himesh Patel as Jack Malik, a singer-songwriter who, after getting knocked out by an accident, wakes up to discover that he is the only person to remember The Beatles. Claiming credit for the band's songs, Malik rises to stardom.
In the movie, Ana de Armas was cast as Roxane, a love interest Malik was to serenade with a rendition of George Harrison’s song Something. But all scenes featuring the actress were later removed.
As for cropping Ana de Armas from the film, Richard Curtis, the screenwriter of the film, explained to Cinema Blend in 2019:
"That was a very traumatic cut, because she was brilliant in it. I mean really radiant. You know, it’s one of those things where it’s [one] of our favorite scenes from the film, but we had to cut them for the sake of the whole.”
The lawsuit against Universal read:
"Unable to rely on fame of the actors playing Jack Malik or Ellie to maximize ticket and movie sales and rentals, Defendant consequently used Ms. De Armas's fame, radiance and brilliance to promote the film by including her scenes in the movie trailers advertising Yesterday."
The lawsuit, which accused Universal of false advertising, unjust enrichment and violating competition laws, among other allegations, also stated:
"Although Defendant included the scenes with Ms. De Armas in the movie trailer advertisements, for the purposes of promoting Yesterday and enticing film sales and rentals, Ms. De Armas is not and was never in the publicly-released version of the movie."
The fans also accused Universal of baiting people into watching the movie, which grossed $154 million globally, by using the song Something in the trailer and removing it from the final cut of the film.
The lawsuit seeks $5 million on behalf of the residents of California and Maryland who paid for the movie. Rosza and Woulfe are being represented by Los Angeles attorney Cody R. LeJeune.
