Disney declaring ‘John Carter’ a flop

LOS ANGELES – “John Carter” is now officially a flop of galactic proportions.

The Walt Disney Co. said Monday that it expects to book a loss of $200 million on the movie in the quarter through March.

Directed by Pixar’s Andrew Stanton, the 3-D effects-laden movie about a Civil War veteran transplanted to Mars was already headed to the “Red Ink Planet,” according to Cowen & Co. analyst Doug Creutz. Yet he expected a write-down of about half that size.

“John Carter” has brought in about $184 million in ticket sales worldwide, Disney said. But ticket sales are split roughly in half with theater owners. The movie’s production budget is estimated to be about $250 million, with about $100 million more spent on marketing.

That’ll cause the movie studio to post a loss of $80 million to $120 million for the quarter, Disney said.

Miller Tabak analyst David Joyce said the studio’s projected loss is more than double what he had expected, and will cause him to trim his estimate of earnings. The hefty spending on production and marketing is causing the Burbank, Calif., company to book the loss sooner than might be the case for a smaller-budget film.

“It’s good that Disney’s airing their dirty laundry now,” he said.

Disney shares fell 34 cents to $43.10 in extended trading Monday. The stock closed regular trading up 25 cents at $43.44.