Unless your evidence is the contract stating you were owed an exclusive theatrical release, then you have nothing. The fact the lawyer used the word "promises" likely means it wasn't in there.
Said like someone who has never had to deal with contract law. Something doesn't have to be explicitly written down or even said to be considered part of a contract; to give an example a company that buys building materials buys some bricks, the supplier then refuses to deliver it as it "wasn't in the contract", the supplier would 100% lose the case if inclusive delivery was the norm in the industry and 10 previous orders placed in the same way had been delivered in that manner.
If someone wrote or even said that the film would get a normal theatrical release then that's absolutely part of the contract, and it's certainly viable that releasing the film via a streaming service at the same time wouldn't be considered a normal release. Heck if she even said she'd only film on the basis it would have a normal theatrical release, and they went ahead and filmed it would potentially be enough, as long as she could prove it and/or they weren't willing to lie and deny it in court.
What's in the contract? (Score:1)
Unless your evidence is the contract stating you were owed an exclusive theatrical release, then you have nothing. The fact the lawyer used the word "promises" likely means it wasn't in there.
Re:What's in the contract? (Score:2)
If someone wrote or even said that the film would get a normal theatrical release then that's absolutely part of the contract, and it's certainly viable that releasing the film via a streaming service at the same time wouldn't be considered a normal release. Heck if she even said she'd only film on the basis it would have a normal theatrical release, and they went ahead and filmed it would potentially be enough, as long as she could prove it and/or they weren't willing to lie and deny it in court.