Disney loses big on sci-fi flop John Carter

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Disney's film division has announced it expects a huge second quarter operating loss of around US$100 million on the back of a poor box office showing by animated science-fiction movie John Carter.

The story of a Civil War soldier who gets transported to Mars, the US$250 million movie is estimated to post a $US 200 million loss after losing badly at the box office to Universal's animated Dr Zeuss tale The Lorax.

The film is the first live-action movie to be directed by Andrew Stanton, the man who won double Oscar glory for Finding Nemo and Wall-E.

Industry sources blamed the movie's poor performance on Disney's disorganized marketing campaign, adding that

Industry sources expect heads to roll, but Disney Studios boss Rich Ross is said to be safe in his position for now as Carter was in production long before he arrived. But should titles that Ross approved fail to live up to expectations things could change.