'John Carter' goes down as one of the biggest flops in history ($200M loss)

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"John Carter" loss expected to be $200M.

The Walt Disney Co. on Monday acknowledged in a statement that the movie's poor performance at the box office likely will force Disney to take a $200 million writedown. The company expects its studio divison will post an operating loss of as much as $120 million in the second fiscal quarter of this year.

"John Carter," based on an Edgar Rice Burroughs character, was made for about a quarter-billion dollars;marketing costs were another $100 million on top of that. But the movie grossed only $30.2 million domestically during its first weekend of release, taking in a measly $13.5 million its second.

The picture was brighter overseas, grossing around $126 million abroad in the 10 days since its March 9 release.

“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," the company said in a statement. "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."

The writedown means "John Carter" is one of history's biggest flops.

It rates alongside such stinkers as "Mars Needs Moms," a 2011 movie that cost $150 million to make and grossed $39 million worldwide; "Ishtar," the 1987 disaster that cost $55 million to make and grossed $14 million domestically and "Heaven's Gate," the 3 hour 39 minute 1980 bomb that cost $44 million to make and grossed $3.48 million domestically.

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