Is there a legal, cognizable claim for a consumer who was misled by a movie trailer? Perhaps. In June 2022, two Plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against Universal concerning a movie they streamed titled Yesterday which is owned by Universal. Woulfe et al v. Universal City Studios LLC et al., 22-cv-00459, ECF No. 83 (C.D. Cal. Dec. 20, 2022). Prior to streaming, the Plaintiffs watched the movie trailer, which featured actress Ana De Armas. In the complaint, Plaintiffs alleged they were persuaded by the trailer, and De Armas' role in particular to stream the movie. However, De Armas' character was cut from the final version of Yesterday, so she was not featured in the film whatsoever. The Plaintiffs alleged they would not have rented the movie had they known De Armas would not appear in the movie. The Plaintiffs then sued Universal under a host of consumer protection violations, including a violation of the California Unfair Competition Law, California Consumer Legal Remedies Act, and California False Advertising Law.
In response, Universal moved to dismiss and filed an anti-SLAPP strike motion. Universal argued that the trailer made no actionable misrepresentation as there was no express statement of De Armas' inclusion in the movie and, at best, a movie trailer provides only a vague representation of the movie. However...
