After a disappointing $30.2 million opening weekend, profits weren’t looking good for Disney’s sci-fi flick John Carter.
Sources say the film reportedly took $250 million to produce, and another $100 million to market. Despite the dismal opening weekend, Disney hoped that the hype would prove profitable, especially when the film earned a B+ rating from CinemaScore audiences. That proved not to the the case, however, since John Carter plummeted 55% last weekend.
Because of these dismal numbers, Disney released a statement yesterday saying they expect to take a write-down of $200 million as a result of this flop. Says the statement:
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.
Taking into account that studios split box-office profits with theater owners, reports say that John Carter would have to earn $600 million in order for Disney to break even – which is not going to happen. Sadly, this is the fourth Disney flick in a string of flops including Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Mars Needs Moms and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.
Disney was quick to add to the hype for their upcoming films, however, and say that “[they] are excited about the upcoming releases of The Avengers and Brave, which [they] believe have tremendous potential to drive value for the Studio and the rest of the company.”
