John Carter Has Lost Disney $200 Million
Sci-fi fantasy film is the biggest flop in the studio's recent history and it will probably be the biggest disaster of 2012.
In light of the theatrical performance of John Carter ($184 million global box office), we expect the film to generate an operating loss of approximately $200 million during our second fiscal quarter ending March 31. As a result, our current expectation is that the Studio segment will have an operating loss of between $80 and $120 million for the second quarter. As we look forward to the second half of the year, we are excited about the upcoming releases of The Avengers and Brave, which we believe have tremendous potential to drive value for the Studio and the rest of the company.So basically it's not all doom and gloom for Disney as The Avengers will easily make a $200 million profit and all will be right again for one of the richest brands on the planet but for everyone who worked on John Carter, heads are going to roll on that one as the studio no doubt attempts an autopsy on just who made the wrong decisions that led to this embarrassing failure. The problem with the film was always going to be its bloated budget, of course. But even so, director Andrew Stanton delivered a movie that didn't catch on (though there were many positives with the movie as outlined in our review) and the marketing campaign was just dire and never gave the film a chance. There are some who say Stanton was also in charge of the marketing direction for the film, so he may have trouble pitching a live-action movie at the studio from here on in. A $200 million loss obviously means the proposed sequel "John Carter: The God of Mars" won't see the light of day and the official comments from the studio indicates that they are basically giving up on the film after only two weeks of release. Much was said in the media about the problems John Carter faced in trying to make a profit and the moment it didn't win its opening weekend and dropped 55% for its second weekend, the film was always going to be dead in the water. There were some better numbers internationally for the film and the statement from Disney does not counter in any money that it manages to make on home video release... so its strange timing for them to publicly come and out and cut their loses with the film but that is precisely what they have done today. Mr. Andrew Stanton, Disney have just given you and your crew a public flogging my friend. Previously; John Carter: Analysis of A So-Called FlopJohn Carter Review: Lovingly Made Pulp Fantasy With Boring Human Characters