For two stans, the only thing more upsetting than a world without the Beatles is a movie about a world without the Beatles — without Ana de Armas. Two de Armaniacs sued Universal this January over the movie Yesterday. The fans had rented the film after seeing de Armas in the trailer, only to discover her scenes had been cut. Universal moved to dismiss the suit, arguing that movies are protected speech under the First Amendment and should be considered “non-commercial†speech, per Variety. Universal noted that many trailers have scenes that aren’t in the final cut of a film, citing one for Jurassic Park that includes no footage found in the film. U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson ruled today that trailers are in fact commercials for movies, and thus subject to the California False Adverting Law and the state’s Unfair Competition Law. This ruling will now allow the case to move to the discovery phase. The plaintiffs are seeking at least $5 million in damages, as representatives of a class of movie customers.
Ana de Armas was originally intended to have a significant role in Yesterday, as another romantic interest for Himesh Patel’s character. But test audiences didn’t like him stepping out on Lily James, so de Armas had to go. You can watch Patel serenade de Armas on The Late Late Show With James Corden in a deleted scene below.