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‘John Carter’ bomb costs Disney Studios Chairman Rich Ross his job

Sunday, April 22, 2012 · 4:19 pm · 49 Comments

“Fired Walt Disney Studios Chairman Rich Ross just sent [a memo] to his staff, followed by a statement from Disney Chairman Bob Iger,” Nikki Finke reports for Deadline.

“But make no mistake about it: Ross did not simply decide to step down – he was fired,” Finke reports. “He was named Chairman of the Walt Disney Studios on October 5, 2009. Previously, he’d been the very successful President of Disney Channels Worldwide overseeing global hits like Hannah Montana and High School Musical.”

Finke reports, “His ouster now ends his 15+ year Disney career which included one of the most public and worst film failures in Hollywood — John Carter, a $200M writedown for the Walt Disney Co.”

Read more in the full article here.

[Attribution: TG Daily. Thanks to MacDailyNews readers too numerous to mention individually for the heads up.]

Categories: News

Tags: Hollywood moguls, John Carter, Rich Ross, Robert Iger, Walt Disney Co, Walt Disney Studios

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Comment Feed

49 Comments

1 2 Next »

Thelonious Mac

Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 4:23 pm · Reply

Jeeze. I was gonna see it. Eventually. Once it was HD rentable on iTunes. I mean who goes to theaters anymore?
- Bruce
  
  Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 9:27 pm · Reply
  
  depends on weather you have monthly data caps or not. (i’m in australia)
  - Doug Mandel
    
    Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 10:15 pm · Reply
    
    depends on weather you rain in your monthly data usage or not. (i’m in oregon)
    - wzinc
      
      Monday, April 23, 2012 - 1:14 am · Reply
      
      It’s still probably cheaper to pay for the extra data than buy a movie ticket.
    - G5Man
      
      Monday, April 23, 2012 - 7:07 am · Reply
      
      I sea what you did there!
    - Thryll
      
      Monday, April 23, 2012 - 10:13 am · Reply
      
      Better pour over your monthly statement and see what your usage is. (I’m in Washington.)
      - Zeke
        
        Monday, April 23, 2012 - 12:46 pm · Reply
        
        Or perhaps poor over it?
    - ApplePi
      
      Monday, April 23, 2012 - 1:27 pm · Reply
      
      I see what you mean.
      (i’m in cahoots)
- thethirdshoe
  
  Monday, April 23, 2012 - 12:52 am · Reply
  
  I liked it. They did a good job with it. My 16 year old son and his friend thought it was great. The effects were well done.
  I would recommend it.
3monkies

Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 4:31 pm · Reply

Yea, I live out here in BFE and it hasn’t even shown in our local theatre yet. Reacting a bit too soon in my opinion…
Barsoom

Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 4:34 pm · Reply

From what I’ve read it sounded like he was out of his element with the movie culture; sorry about his job loss. Having read the books again recently I had high hopes for the “John Carter” movie and its now cancelled sequels. Darn shame.
Ed

Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 4:35 pm · Reply

When they were making this thing they should have seen it coming.

The trailer made it look like they used scrap scenes from the phantom menace and added some tom cruise wanna-be into them. Not to mention what a horrible film title. Just a person’s name doesnt get young kids excited.
emess1950

Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 4:41 pm · Reply

I loved all of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ books- perhaps the movie should’ve been marketed as being “from the creator of Tarzan.”
Now, Now...

Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 4:41 pm · Reply

I haven’t seen it because I refuse to support Hollywood by way of theaters or rentals, but I’ve heard from movie goers that did see it, and said it was a good movie.

Just goes to show that you can’t judge a movie by its title, but who was the moron that decided on “John Carter’?! Yeah that’ll bring in the masses.

Oh well, guess I’ll wait for the Walmart dvd bargain bin or when it comes on TV to see for myself.
- Jeff II
  
  Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 5:41 pm · Reply
  
  @ Now, now…
  Thanks for the chuckle and the reality check in your first ¶! I think the last movie I saw in a theater was Titanic. Since then, I’m with you except for having signed up with Netflix.
- Seamus
  
  Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 11:19 pm · Reply
  
  What do you think about X-Men, Spider Man, and more? Anyone who knows ANYTHING about science fiction knows “John Carter”. That’s a good base to then build general appeal on — or should have been, for someone with an ounce of marketing savvy.
  - millereves
    
    Monday, April 23, 2012 - 2:49 am · Reply
    
    Seamus: nothing wrong with Now, Now’s comment.
    
    not every adult is a child (into comics), so the rest of this world has no idea @ what John Carter is about – lest they see the trailers. it’s like the rest of us non-junkies who visit McD or any junk food “restaurant”: they immediately expect us to know the menu by heart & just choose a # already, whereas real people would choose a real restaurant with real food that is chosen by real dish names etc. Stop expecting the world to be at your feet…
    
    as for hollywood:
    NNow’s right. they don’t deserve the success with soap etc. if they punish their viewers for every little think like the bitches on periods they are, they will only worsen piracy & kill the theatre themselves through self-inflicted sadistic stupidity. did they not learn from Apple’s iTunes how to save their grace with the music & film industry?! they’re donkeys surviving on fear, not intelligence.
    
    the real shame is the studios waste their talents’ talents. every noticed how every movie & tv series is award winning & the best & most watched show ever before they even start?! if studios stopped bullshitting, the fan wouldn’t hit them!
    - 2ndmate
      
      Monday, April 23, 2012 - 12:23 pm · Reply
      
      They are either donkeys on fear, or jackasses on scrub. Some of them are damned mules, and the rest are just horse’s asses. And their braying is more like horseshit than bullshit. Wish Jobs was still around, to put ‘em down.
MacHeadB

Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 4:57 pm · Reply

Watching movies through a projector onto my bedroom wall is a joy! Kicking back on my bed with a 120 inch projected image that looks as good as any TV made today^^

Life is good indeed
- botvinnik
  
  Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 6:21 pm · Reply
  
  plus, you can practice your shadow puppets!
Gregg Thurman

Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 5:16 pm · Reply

Making mistakes is to be expected, it’s the overall performance of an individual that matter. If anything I think this is a mutual acknowledgement that Ross had advanced beyond his skill set. Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to correct errors like this by going backwards in job assignments, hence the move out.
dacianfalx

Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 5:56 pm · Reply

I’m a big fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and so I really looked forward to seeing this movie…I was not disappointed! It was a delightful film, as true to the books as a movie can be without bogging down, and very exciting. It certainly excited my partner enough that she’s borrowed (and is reading) all of my copies of the series. I’m saddened to hear we shan’t be seeing more of them. I loved it.
TowerTone

Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 6:43 pm · Reply

I didn’t think it was a bad movie at all, but where was the 200 million spent? Did OMB score this…?
kaplanmike

Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 6:54 pm · Reply

And this is on a Mac site because…??
- Connect The Dots
  
  Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 7:03 pm · Reply
  
  Disney … Steve Jobs … Think hard now.
  - imppaul
    
    Monday, April 23, 2012 - 2:05 am · Reply
    
    Sorry, too much of a stretch. It’s not quite as rancid as the Limbaugh stories, but it really has NO actual relevance to Apple or their products.
    - gcaptain5
      
      Monday, April 23, 2012 - 9:57 am · Reply
      
      Is there any interest out there for a Safari extension that hides Limbaugh stories from MDN? I think that’s something I could create fairly easily.
ob1spyker

Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 6:56 pm · Reply

This movie was a marketing debacle!!! It doesn’t deserve to be the Ishtar of our time, but they had no idea what to do with it. Is that Rich Ross’ fault? I don’t know.

However, when it’s all said and done, I don’t think it’s going to end up losing as much as they think. I expect it to have a good life after the theaters when it hits VHS and Beta.
Johnny Appleseed

Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 7:50 pm · Reply

They shoulda called it Warlord of Mars.
- Spark
  
  Monday, April 23, 2012 - 10:30 am · Reply
  
  yeah, or “A Princess of Mars” which is the book it was based upon.
Jubei

Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 8:11 pm · Reply

His compensation package is in the millions I bet. Including health coverage for years to come. He could retire if he wishes.
Brian

Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 8:21 pm · Reply

I really enjoyed the movie…the marketing left a lot to be desired though. Had no idea it was from the creator of Tarzan.
MrMcLargeHuge

Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 8:59 pm · Reply

It was a good film, and I was excited about the series potential. It’s a shame really, that such a viable series, that took 100 years to make it to theaters, has died such a horrible death.

I have to agree with the other posters, the marketing, starting with the title itself, was terrible, and yet they supposedly spent $100 million on marketing alone. Even something as simple as “John Carter of Mars” would have been exponentially better than just “John Carter.”
kirkgray

Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 9:14 pm · Reply

I would have seen it opening week, if it weren’t for that damned 3D.

No movie is worth being sick for 3 days. (Yeah, I know it only affects like 10% of the population, but when you’re in it, it sucks.) I’m ready for Hollywood to get over the 3D thing and get back to making movies.
jonricmd

Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 9:27 pm · Reply

It was a good movie. It has not bombed, in fact — it has recouped its production costs from receipts here in the U.S. alone (see http://www.jcom.com – movie news tab). The critics didn’t like it and Disney did a poor job of marketing it — that’s who should have been fired — whoever did the marketing. The movie is moderately different from the book (which Andrew Stanton explained in one of the interviews I saw, and with some good reasons, though some would probably disagree) — the critics were expecting it to be close to the book. If it is still in theaters near you, go and see it and judge for yourself. I read the books in the 1970′s and reread them again when I heard it was coming out and enjoyed it.
chrishoward

Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 10:36 pm · Reply

Checked IMDB and this movie is getting 7.0 rating. That is very good. “Hunger Games” only has 7.6 despite the critics liking it.

The only thing about “John Carter” that bombed is the horrendous title. The title alone was enough to turn me off. Worst title since “The Happening”.

The person losing their job should be whoever named it.

Fortunately the movie has got so much bad press about bombing that it did catch my attention and yeah, maybe I will go see it.But if I don’t, I know I will look for it on DVD.
Jeff

Sunday, April 22, 2012 - 11:52 pm · Reply

This was a pretty good movie, I paid to see it with my kids but it was borderline I was not impressed with the 3D, and I could not recommend paying the extra $3.00 if not for the extra cost of 3D this movie would have had more viewers and cost less.