Los Angeles ( Financial Times ) -- Walt Disney will incur a $ 200m writedown on John Carter , the action film based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel which has failed at the box office despite a $ 300m production budget and an extensive global marketing campaign . The film about an American civil war hero who journeys to Mars is shaping up to be one of Hollywood 's costliest flops . It has generated $ 184m in global ticket sales but with about half its takings going to cinema chains , Disney has had to adjust its earnings guidance for the quarter to reflect the film 's performance . The company said its `` current expectation '' is that its movie studio division will incur an operating loss of between $ 80m and $ 120m for the quarter following the release of the movie . The writedown deals a blow to Rich Ross , the chairman of Walt Disney Studios , who has been trying to improve returns at the division following a restructuring and a focus on films made under the Disney , Pixar and Marvel brands . The studio has better prospects for the rest of the year , when it will release Brave , the latest film from Pixar , and The Avengers , a superhero movie featuring characters such as Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk . Disney said the two movies had `` tremendous potential to drive value for the studio and the rest of the company '' . However , the abject failure of John Carter is not likely to be forgotten in an industry where a single flop can wipe out a studio 's annual profits . Hopes were initially high for John Carter : Its director , Andrew Stanton , had made the critically lauded and commercially successful Finding Nemo and Wall-E . But the director openly admitted to struggling with the transition from animated film-making to live action directing . Meanwhile , Burroughs ' source material , which inspired filmmakers such as James Cameron , has failed to energise young , male cinema goers , a crucial demographic for any big-budget action movie . The film comes a year after another costly Disney flop -- Mars Needs Moms -- but although it is likely to provoke some soul-searching at the company , privately executives are standing behind Mr Stanton and saying the company will continue to take risks in the pursuit of creative success . John Carter was `` greenlit '' , or put into development , by the previous management regime at Disney 's studio . Since the departure of Dick Cook , the former studio chairman , Disney has cut its marketing costs and reduced the headcount at its home entertainment division to reflect an industry-wide slump in DVD sales . It is also producing fewer movies , concentrating instead on distributing titles produced by DreamWorks , the movie studio created by Steven Spielberg , Pixar and Marvel , the comic book publisher it acquired in 2009 for $ 4bn . © The Financial Times Limited 2012 .
Walt Disney would incur a $ 300 m writedown on action film Get Carter . Film about an American civil war hero who travels to Africa . The film has failed at the box office despite a $ 300 m production budget .