Face Plant! Disney claims ‘John Carter’ Will Wind up a $200 Million loss

If the failed marketing and poor box office numbers weren’t enough to give  fans of John Carter little hope of a sequel, Disney has come out and poured more salt in the wounds. Many thought the successful overseas market just might make enough to warrant a sequel (which could still happen), but even with the impressive numbers from overseas, the film will result in a $200 million loss for Disney.

Here is the announcement from the big cheeses over at Disney

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 what does this mean and why now?

Basically Disney never really had much hope for this film and seem to want to cut their loses and worry about their bigger blockbusters like The Avengers.  This is poor damage control on behalf of the Disney executives. Why would you release this type of information while a film is still in theaters? I understand you have shareholders that might be looking for some insight on the upcoming quarters, but come on! I have felt it from the beginning that Disney never really put their heart into this film and never really had high expectations for it and this just proves my point. The marketing was terrible and the release date was just as bad.

Now this doesn’t mean the film will be a total loss. There are still a ton of things that they will factor in like DVD, Blu-Ray, VOD, etc. before it’s all said in done.  That being said, the film was not a bad film at all and was actually enjoyable. I would love to see the story carried on but if that is to happen, a major budget cut will be in line or it will be sold to another studio. Only time will tell.

There is no one here to blame for this besides Disney and their executives because this was their doing. You don’t change an infamous title halfway through and then a week or two before it opens change your marketing tactics. COME ON MAN!