Production Budget: $250,000,000 Worldwide Gross: $284,139,100 Estimated Losses: $107,930,450 Disney's 2012 adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' sci-fi novel A Princess of Mars actually grossed more money at the worldwide box office than it cost to make. However, that wasnt nearly enough to cover the tremendous production and marketing costs. During production director Andrew Stanton a Pixar veteran who had never shot a live-action feature before shot many scenes twice, which added to the already-high budget. Afterwards an incredible amount of money was spent on marketing once Disney realised that general audiences didn't know what a film simply titled John Carter was about (Disney felt the title A Princess of Mars was too feminine and that the title John Carter of Mars was too reminiscent of another huge bomb that this list will get to later), including spending millions on a Super Bowl commercial. While the film got average reviews, only thousands of sold-out screenings would've recouped the money Disney invested in the movie. Disney's Studio Entertainment division lost $160 million in a single fiscal quarter and the company largely blamed the losses on John Carter. In addition, Walt Disney Studios chairman Rich Ross resigned shortly after the movie's failure.
Chris McKittrick is a published author of fiction and non-fiction and has spoken about film and comic books at conferences across the United States. In addition to his work at WhatCulture!, he is a regular contributor to CreativeScreenwriting.com, MovieBuzzers.com, and DailyActor.com, a website focused on acting in all media. For more information, visit his website at http://www.chrismckit.com.
