Judge dismisses lawsuit against Yesterday trailer over Ana de Armas' appearance

A judge has dismissed a lawsuit from two movie fans who claimed to have been tricked into watching the movie Yesterday because Ana de Armas featured in the trailer.

Peter Michael Rosza of San Diego and Conor Woulfe, both from Maryland, filed a US$5 million (S$6.74 million) class action lawsuit against Universal Studios alleging they paid US$3.99 each to watch Danny Boyle's film on streaming service Amazon Prime but were disappointed to learn Ana had been cut from the movie despite being featured in the teaser clip.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, they sued for false advertisement, unjust enrichment and violation of unfair competition — claiming "consumers were not provided with any value for their rental or purchase".

The suit added: "Unable to rely on fame of the actors playing Jack Malik or Ellie to maximise 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'." However, US district judge Stephen Wilson has now thrown the suit out — calling the case a "self-­inflicted injury".

It came after Woulfe added an amendment in which he revealed he actually rented the film a second time via Google Play in 2023 claiming there were "misrepresentations on Google" because De Armas came up as a member of the Yesterday cast in Google searches.

The actress had initially been cast in the film — which was written by Richard Curtis and directed by Boyle — as a love interest for the character played by Himesh Patel. However, her role was later edited out of the movie after a number of screenings with test audiences.

The trailer showed De Armas sitting with Patel on the set of US TV talk show The Late Late Show with James Corden.

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