One of the strangest Hollywood legal cases in recent years started with a few seconds of film footage. Actress Ana de Armas was featured in advertisements for the 2019 film Yesterday, but she does not appear in the final product.
Two consumers felt they were being tricked and sued Universal Pictures, spending more than two years in legal proceedings. The case concluded in 2024 with neither party winning a complete victory against the other.
Why Ana de Armas Did Not Make It Into the Film
Yesterday is the story of Jack Malik (Himesh Patel), a wannabe musician who finds himself in an alternate reality after an accident during a strange global blackout. In this world, the Beatles have never existed, and Jack takes advantage of this by essentially becoming a “Beatles pretender”.
His love interest Ellie is played by Lily James and his agent Debra is played by Kate McKinnon, both of whom support his endeavors in a film directed by Danny Boyle and written by Richard Curtis.
Ana de Armas became known for her role in 2017’s Blade Runner 2049, where she gave a critically acclaimed performance. Following that exposure, she had bigger parts in the James Bond movie series like No Time to D*e, Kn*ves Out, and Blonde.
While filming Yesterday, de Armas starred as Roxanne, a famous actress who becomes Jack’s romantic interest after Ellie. The deleted scenes featured de Armas’s character meeting Jack backstage at The Late Late Show With James Corden.
As it turned out, however, this footage was ultimately removed from the final cut of the film. Curtis himself noted that the decision was “a very painful cut, because she was brilliant in it,” as he described de Armas’s performance as “radiant.”
Test audiences felt that the on-screen chemistry between Patel and de Armas was a distraction from Jack’s relationship with Lily James’s Ellie, as it diminished his devotion to her. Removing these scenes allowed Yesterday to retain its central romance, although Curtis admitted to losing some of his favorite footage in the process.
Yesterday had a production budget of $26 million and was released in June 2019, grossing $154.6 million worldwide. Still, the film was said not to be a financial success overall, with Universal Pictures reportedly taking a nearly $90 million loss on the film on paper, according to Collider.
Meanwhile, de Armas’ share of the publicity was far less, as her scenes were only featured in the trailers leading up to the film’s release.
A $5 Million Lawsuit Filed Against Universal
In January 2022, a class-action lawsuit was filed by Peter Michael Rosza of San Diego and Conor Woulfe of Maryland against Universal Pictures. The plaintiff duo alleged that their spending of $3.99 each on Yesterday via Amazon Prime Video constituted deceptive advertising, as de Armas’s scenes were not present in the final product.
Thus, Rosza and Woulfe demanded a total of $5 million in compensation from the production company for false advertising, unjust enrichment, and unlawful trade practices.
Patel and James were not famous enough to draw customers on their own and Universal used “Ms. De Armas’s fame, radiance and brilliance to promote the film,” the suit said, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
At the first hearing, Judge Stephen Wilson denied Universal Pictures’ motion to dismiss, stating that movie trailers were “commercial speech” and therefore subject to the same rules as other advertising.
Whoever wins in the end, that one decision was enough to change the whole legal landscape of Hollywood. Such a ruling could lead to new restrictions on trailer editing practices. Universal Pictures’ legal team, meanwhile, continued to challenge the case, arguing that trailers were “creative works” protected by the First Amendment, just as the movies were.
Court Denies Plaintiffs’ Motion
Rosza and Woulfe amended their lawsuit several times in 2022 and 2023, with Woulfe claiming to have rented Yesterday a second time through Google Play after he realized that search results still indicated de Armas was in the movie. He said it was another case of false advertising.
However, Judge Wilson remained unmoved by the plaintiffs’ arguments. Wilson found that Rosza and Woulfe’s financial losses were “self-inflicted”.
He explained that Woulfe could not have been surprised by de Armas’s absence, having already seen Yesterday the first time via Prime Video and realizing her scenes were missing. Thus, the second rental was not a result of misleading advertising practices.
Wilson ultimately refused to allow the motion to amend the complaint, effectively preventing the plaintiffs from filing a new suit. The Guardian reports that the class-action lawsuit was officially dismissed, meaning Rosza and Woulfe were unable to continue their original claims against Universal Pictures.
How Defending the Case Cost Universal More Than Expected
Despite prevailing in court, Universal Pictures was not entirely satisfied with the outcome. Because the studio won dismissal under California’s anti-SLAPP law, which is designed to prevent lawsuits aimed at punishing people for exercising their First Amendment rights, it earned the right to recover its legal costs from the plaintiffs.
Universal’s lead attorney, Kelly Klaus, bills $1,158 an hour, and the studio asked the court for $472,000 to cover two motions. Judge Wilson thought that figure was too high. In comments reported by Variety, he wrote that modern law firms are “neither eleemosynary nor altruistic” and reduced the award to $126,705.
Instead of conceding defeat, the plaintiffs’ attorneys continued to file discovery requests, which in turn prompted Universal Pictures to file a sanctions motion with the court. Since class certification had been denied, the most the plaintiffs could recover was an estimated $8, or the amount the two men had originally paid to rent the film.
The Two-Year Legal Litigation Finally Concludes
On April 12, 2024, the attorneys for both sides told the court they had reached a settlement to resolve the case. The final terms were announced on April 18, and both sides came away empty-handed: Rosza and Woulfe were not paid, and Universal abandoned its award of $126,705 in legal fees.
Neither side has made an official comment on the outcome of the case, but it does seem to have had a long-term impact on the film industry. The primary lasting effect of the two-year legal battle is Judge Wilson’s preliminary conclusion that movie trailers are commercial speech.
Seven years after it came out, Yesterday is still going strong, with a casting call for a West End musical adaptation directed by Danny Boyle and written by Richard Curtis going out in June 2026.