The Wall Street Journal, Saturday/Sunday, April 2122, 2012
Disney Studio's Chief Is Out
Chairman Rich Ross Steps Down in Wake of Science-Fiction Flop 'John Carter'
The chairman of
Walt Disney Co.'s movie studio stepped down after less than three years on the job, in the wake of one of the studio's biggest flops to date.
"I no longer believe the Chairman role is the right professional fit for me," wrote Disney Studios head Rich Ross in an email to employees Friday.
Mr. Ross, whose departure ends a 15-year career at Disney, came to the movie-studio job after a successful run heading the Disney Channel, the once-sleepy cable network he helped reinvent with "tween"-oriented programming such as
Hannah Montana and
High School Musical. . . .
Mr. Ross's exit comes a month and a half after the disastrous opening of science-fiction epic
John Carter, on which Disney expects to lose $200 million. That film cost more than $250 million to make and another $100 million to market.
As a result, the movie studio is expected to report an operating loss of between $80 million and $120 million for its fiscal second quarter, which ended March 31.
In January, amid the run-up to the release of
John Carter, studio marketing chief MT Carney left after less than two years in the job.
I wonder why they didn't call it "A Princess of Mars"?
They should have called it
Hannah Montana of Mars.
My youngest dog, a huge yellow/black Labrador mix, acts just like the toad dog. Especially when they're in the boat going down the river, and the dog is howling and flops down exhausted, I had to bite my tongue from hollering out "That's my dog!"
I was a big fan of the toad dog in the John Carter comic books. I will wait for the DVD to reach the junk bins and buy it for the toad dog.