Disney to lose $200 million on ‘John Carter’

The Mars-set action epic is shaping up to be one of the biggest flops of all time


Disney’s John Carter is set to lose up to $200 million ($126 million) for the studio, making it one of the biggest box office flops in cinema history.

The action movie, about a military captain transported to Mars, has taken no more than $184 million worldwide, with cinema owners taking around half that total. It cost an estimated $250 million to make, with another $100 million likely spent on marketing.

The failure of the film could now result in a $80-120 million loss for Disney’s movie business in the current quarter. Disney’s shares were down almost 1% after early trading in New York, according to BBC News. The firm is still likely to make a substantial quarterly profit, though, thanks to its TV businesses.

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The film had been a labour of love for the director, Pixar’s Andrew Stanton, who has achieved great success with Finding Nemo and Wall-E. But his foray into live action has not captured the public imagination.

John Carter is based on a series of books by Tarzan author Edgar Rice Burrows, which began with A Princess Of Mars in 1912 and ended with John Carter Of Mars, published after the author’s death in 1964.

Last year’s biggest flop was Mars Needs Moms, which cost $150m to make and only took $39m at the box office. You can watch the trailer for John Carter at the top of the page.
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