A lawsuit filed by two Ana de Armas fans is moving forward after a judge ruled that the trailer for the 2019 movie Yesterday may have been "deceptive".
In January 2022, the two fans paid $3.99 to rent the Danny Boyle-directed 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. The fans are now seeking damages of at least $5 million.
Universal, the studio behind Yesterday, argued that trailers are "artistic, expressive work" and shouldn't be counted as "commercial speech", but a California judge ruled that movie studios can be sued under false advertising laws if they release deceptive movie trailers.
"Universal is correct that trailers involve some creativity and editorial discretion, but this creativity does not outweigh the commercial nature of a trailer," US District Judge Stephen Wilson said (via Variety). "At its core, a trailer is an advertisement designed to sell a movie by providing consumers with a preview of the movie. The Court’s holding is limited to representations as to whether an actress or scene is in the movie, and nothing else."
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. De Armas was meant to play one of Jack's love interests, but screenwriter Richard Curtis decided to cut the character from the movie as he didn't want Jack to stray too far from his primary love interest, Ellie, played by Lily James.
