Disney Chairman Resigns on Eve of "Avengers" Release

[CBR News]

Rich Ross has resigned as chairman of Walt Disney Studios two weeks before the release of expected hit "The Avengers," sparking debate as to whether he quit or was fired.


Full article here.

[jediracer]

he was a Skrull

[comicboy53]

Ater the John Carter fiasco I'm not surprised

[marvelprince]

Ater the John Carter fiasco I'm not surprised

Same here. I heard it was a good film but by all accounts it was a massive box office disappointment.

I wonder if Feige is really a candidate for this job? It would no doubt be a great opportunity for him, but if it means he would have to step down as President of Marvel Studios then I'm a little skeptical. Part of the reasons the Marvel films are so great are directly because of him.

[BeastieRunner]

Same here. I heard it was a good film but by all accounts it was a massive box office disappointment.

I wonder if Feige is really a candidate for this job? It would no doubt be a great opportunity for him, but if it means he would have to step down as President of Marvel Studios then I'm a little skeptical. Part of the reasons the Marvel films are so great are directly because of him.

I'm sure IF he got the job, he wouldn't just walk away from making sure Marvel had great movies. Same goes for Pixar.

[BrotherUnitNo_4]

Same here. I heard it was a good film but by all accounts it was a massive box office disappointment.

I wonder if Feige is really a candidate for this job? It would no doubt be a great opportunity for him, but if it means he would have to step down as President of Marvel Studios then I'm a little skeptical. Part of the reasons the Marvel films are so great are directly because of him.

If Fiege has to leave Marvel Studios, Loeb could be next in line for the spot.

Well every film can't be a winner, but the Avengers is geared to rake in bucketloads.

[RunnerX13]

Would Kevin Feige really be a contender? If I was next in line at Disney Studios, I would pretty pissed if the head of a subsidiary studio were promoted over me.

[Jordanstine]

Would Kevin Feige really be a contender? If I was next in line at Disney Studios, I would pretty pissed if the head of a subsidiary studio were promoted over me.

Wow, that means MORE Marvel Comic Book Movies!!!

I likey!

[StoneGold]

Would Kevin Feige really be a contender? If I was next in line at Disney Studios, I would pretty pissed if the head of a subsidiary studio were promoted over me.

Not that you wouldn't be pissed, because you're an alpha dog AND THAT JOB IS YOURS!!!! but happens all the time.

I wonder how much Avengers really has to do with this story though, other than scuttlebutt about Feige getting the job? Because this is Walt Disney Studios we're talking about, not Walt Disney Company. All told, Marvel, including the studio, is run fairly separate. Including Avengers getting released through Paramount. Gotta figure, as mentioned earlier, this is straight-up more about John Carter. Iger getting him to fall on his sword.

[Roquefort Raider]

John Carter was an excellent adventure movie; far, far better than the dismal "On stranger tides" cited as a hit in the article. It also managed to gross over 250 millions worldwide (pre-DVD sales), which makes any comparison to Ishtar or Speed Racer ridiculous. Why didn't more people go see it? I've no idea, although the promotion could probably have been better. The preemptive bashing that the movie got before it was even released also probably didn't help.

It's a pity to see this bloke lose his job over what should have been, by any fair account, a successful film. The Avengers will probably make a ton of money, and he should get credit for that and not only be blamed for one movie that didn't return on the investment. I hate the hypocrisy of this entire system, and that of companies who don't have the guts to say "we fired the guy because he didn't bring in enough money that one time".

[ClaudioPozas]

The article failed to mention that John Carter has earned over US$270 million worldwide, even with abysmal marketing on Disney's part. It is far from a fiasco or a flop, and is a much better movie than others that have earned billion+ box offices. John Carter was stillborn way back in October 2011, when Disney decided not to license the movie for tie-in merchandise. No videogames, no Lego, no action figures or anything, which would be a big earner in a movie with exotic alien races, fantasy airships and sword-wielding heroes.

[the Dagman]

Considering that Disney has prioritized marketing to males (their primary reason for buying Marvel), and that Ross' successes were for "Hannah Montana" and "High School Musical" ("chick-flick" concepts at best), the Disney board likely, and rightfully, determined after his failure in marketing John Carter that he did not have what it takes to get the job done. I saw a fan trailer for John Carter that was 1000x better than anything Disney put out for it, and the movie itself was fantastic. That movie should have grossed ~$500M domestically, at least. The reason it failed was Ross' lack of faith in it and not understanding the target demo. And these reasons are also working in favor of Feige getting the in-house promotion, since he has continually demonstrated that he does get it.

[stk]

John Carter deserved to do a lot better than it did. Taking the 'of Mars' out of the title apparently didn't help the way their marketing people believed.

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

This makes me sad since John Carter will likely be attached to this executive's failed regime and we probably won't get anymore Mars movies from Disney.

[comicboy53]

The article failed to mention that John Carter has earned over US$270 million worldwide, even with abysmal marketing on Disney's part. It is far from a fiasco or a flop, and is a much better movie than others that have earned billion+ box offices. John Carter was stillborn way back in October 2011, when Disney decided not to license the movie for tie-in merchandise. No videogames, no Lego, no action figures or anything, which would be a big earner in a movie with exotic alien races, fantasy airships and sword-wielding heroes.

You do know that Disney expected the film would generate a loss of about $200 million during its second fiscal quarter. Of course thanks to the international market the damage was a lot worse. It's a shame because the movie is good.