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Related: Why Rich Ross Was Fired At Disney: But Does This Say More About Bob Iger’s Leadership?
BREAKING… Below is what fired Walt Disney Studios Chairman Rich Ross just sent to his staff, followed by a statement from Disney 
Chairman Bob Iger. But make no mistake about it: Ross did not simply decide to step down – he was fired. He was named Chairman of the Walt Disney Studios on October 5, 2009. Previously, he’d been the very successful President of Disney Channels Worldwide overseeing global hits like Hannah Montana and High School Musical. His ouster now ends his 15+ year Disney career which included one of the most public and worst film failures in Hollywood — John Carter, a $200M writedown for the Walt Disney Co:
For the last 15 years, I have had the opportunity to work with incredibly talented people on behalf of the world’s best loved brand. During that time, we’ve told some amazing stories around the world, created successful TV programming, movies, and franchises that generated new opportunities for the company in the process.
I’ve always said our success is created and driven by our people – whom I consider to be the absolute best in the business. But, the best people need to be in the right jobs, in roles they are passionate about, doing work that leverages the full range of their abilities. It’s one of the leadership lessons I’ve learned during my career, and it’s something I’ve been giving a great deal of thought to as I look at the challenges and opportunities ahead.
I believe in this extraordinary Walt Disney Studios team, and I believe in our strong slate of films and our ability to make and market them better than anyone else. But, I no longer believe the Chairman role is the right professional fit for me. For that reason, I have made the very difficult decision to step down as Chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, effective today.
It has been my honor to work with such incredible teams – at Disney Channels Worldwide and The Walt Disney Studios and the many other Disney businesses I’ve had the opportunity to collaborate with. I know I leave the Studios in good hands and, even on separate paths, I am confident we are all destined for continued success.
-Rich
—
Statement from Bob Iger, Chairman/CEO, Walt Disney Co
For more than a decade, Rich Ross’s creative instincts, business acumen and personal integrity have driven results in key businesses for Disney, redefining success in kids and family entertainment and launching franchises that generate value across our entire company. His vision and leadership opened doors for Disney around the world, making our brand part of daily life for millions of people. I appreciate his countless contributions throughout his entire career at Disney, and expect he will have tremendous success in whatever he chooses to do next.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Wow…Good luck to anyone replacing Ross who has to deal with Stacey S. and Jerry B. This town loves to punish.
Hmm… All of this a week after the Dreamworks cutbacks.
Stacey obviously is going to take this. Just not sure how different it will be from her chairman gig at Uni.
Let’s bring out the facts that led us to this moment:
- October 2009 – Rich Ross hired to replace Dick Cook as Studio Chairman
- November 2009 – A CHRISTMAS CAROL (3D) released
*In production before Rich Ross assumed chairmanship
*Marketed by Disney before Rich Ross assumed chairmanship
*Budget: $200M
*Box office: $325M WW gross
*Verdict: Dud. Creepy motion capture marketed to kids, also possible misfire in scheduling – Disney does well in the November timeslot, but this is a Christmas film. Would have benefited more in PRINCESS AND THE FROG’s release date. Off-topic marketing included “6-month train tour” which did nothing to translate into box office dollars. Audience reception of “dark” (and expensive) animation style not positive.
- November 2009 – Ross fires Jim Gallagher as President of Marketing
- November 2009 – OLD DOGS released
*In production before Rich Ross assumed chairmanship
*Marketed by Disney before Rich Ross assumed chairmanship
*Budget: $35M
*Box Office: $96M WW gross
*Verdict: Dud, hurt by the marketing and off-placement of DeNiro in a family film other than FOCKERS franchise. Generally poor reviews.
- December 2009 – PRINCESS AND THE FROG released
*In production before Rich Ross assumed chairmanship
*Marketed by Disney, mostly before Rich Ross assumed chairmanship
*Budget: $105M
*Box Office: $267M WW gross
*Verdict: Possible breakeven after home media and merchandising taken into account. Hurt by lingering competition from girl-targeted NEW MOON.
- January 2010 – Ross fires Oren Aviv as President of Production
- January 2010 – Ross hires Sean Bailey as President of Production
- March 2010 – ALICE IN WONDERLAND (3D) released
*In production before Rich Ross assumed chairmanship
*Marketed (by Disney) somewhat before Rich Ross assumed chairmanship
*Budget: $200M
*Box Office: $1B WW
*Verdict: Hit, but benefited from the “Depp Effect” and higher 3D ticket prices. One of the highest-grossing films of all time. Reached 10th place on DVD sales charts for 2010 sales revenue.
- March 2010 – WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY released
*In production before Rich Ross assumed chairmanship
*Marketed by Disney under Rich Ross’ chairmanship
*Budget: N/A
*Box Office: $84K WW gross
*Verdict: Jury is out as financial figures not released, but given an $84,000 total take and likely marketing expenses, this was probably a dud. Not a huge loss and mostly irrelevant in the larger picture, but should have been redirected to DVD (similar to Miley Cyrus’ LOL) – poor decision on Ross’ part.
- April 2010 – Ross hires MT Carney as President of Marketing
*No Theatrical Marketing experience
*Nicknamed “Empty Carney” by colleagues
*Dreams up genius “It’s the coolest job ever” logline for SORCERER’S APPRENTICE
- May 2010 – PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME released
*In production before Rich Ross assumed chairmanship
*Marketed by Disney under Rich Ross’ chairmanship
*Budget: $200M
*Box Office: $335M WW gross
*Verdict: Dud. Almost reaches breakeven when all sources of revenue taken into account, but not quite. Awful marketing campaign, Gyllenhaal not believable as leading man, reviews not stellar. Poor scheduling decision, leaving PERSIA to battle it out against franchise favorites SHREK and SEX AND THE CITY 2.
- June 2010 – TOY STORY 3 (3D) released
*In production before Rich Ross assumed chairmanship
*Marketed by Pixar
*Budget: $200M
*Box Office: $1B WW gross
*Verdict: Hit, but benefited from an established audience and halo effect. Outstanding marketing, broke SHREK THE THIRD’s record as the biggest opening day North American gross for an animated film unadjusted for inflation. Has become the best-selling DVD of 2010 in terms of units sold, broke the record for the largest first day ever for animated feature both on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK.
- July 2010 – THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE released
*In production before Rich Ross assumed chairmanship
*Marketed by Disney under Rich Ross’ chairmanship
*Budget: $150M
*Box Office: $215M WW gross
*Verdict: Dud. Misdirected and sub-standard marketing sank the film, Cage’s on-screen presence more a liability than an asset in most features aside from NATIONAL TREASURE franchise. Poor reviews and eaten to pieces by Nolan’s INCEPTION, which opened 2 days later. Listed by Parade Magazine as #1 on its list of “Biggest Box Office Flops of 2010″.
- October 2010 – SECRETARIAT released
*In production before Rich Ross assumed chairmanship
*Marketed by Disney under Rich Ross’ chairmanship
*Budget: $35M
*Box Office: $60M WW gross
*Verdict: Dud. Film had relatively long legs but did not meet financial expectations. Counter-programming strategy backfired opening up against Fincher’s SOCIAL NETWORK. Subject matter (and hence the marketing) sank the film; live-action animal-centric pictures don’t generally drive the masses to the multiplex. Picture should have been co-financed to hedge against potential losses.
- November 2010 – TANGLED (3D) released
*In production before Rich Ross assumed chairmanship
*Marketed by Disney under Rich Ross’ chairmanship
*Budget: $260M
*Box Office: $590M WW gross
*Verdict: Profitable, particularly after home media and merchandising revenues taken into account. Some confusion after title change to appeal to boys, but likely minimal ticket-buying impact. The second highest-grossing film WW produced by Disney Animation, trailing only LION KING. Domestic sales exceeded $95M in DVD and Blu-ray, the 2nd highest-grossing DVD of 2011; home video sales exceeded the film’s earnings in its first week in theaters. Film sold a record 2,970,052 DVD units in its first week in North America, the largest opening for a 2011 DVD to date.
- December 2010 – TRON: LEGACY (3D) released
*In production before Rich Ross assumed chairmanship
*Marketed by Disney under Rich Ross’ chairmanship
*Budget: $170M
*Box Office: $400M WW gross
*Verdict: Profitable, driven by higher 3D ticket prices, outstanding marketing, promoted awareness of Daft Punk’s scoring of the soundtrack, and generally high home media revenues. Did not meet Disney’s specific box office expectations, but became the 12th highest-grossing movie of 2010 and the largest one of December 2010.
- March 2011 – MARS NEEDS MOMS (3D) released
*In production before Rich Ross assumed chairmanship
*Marketed by Disney under Rich Ross’ chairmanship
*Budget: $150M
*Box Office: $38M WW gross
*Verdict: Dud. Marketing sank this movie – creepy motion capture marketed to children plus awkward title boys wouldn’t be caught dead uttering, also release date issues – just because ALICE opened big in the March graveyard does not guarantee success for non-Depp stinkers. It is currently the 6th biggest box office bomb in history, with a total net loss of $140M. Theatrical performance and negative reviews resulted in YELLOW SUBMARINE (3D) being abandoned by Disney, ImageMovers Digital being shut down and Robert Zemekis – one of Hollywood’s most respected producer/directors – becoming effectively unemployed.
- April 2011 – PROM released
*First film greenlit by Rich Ross himself
*Marketed by Disney under Rich Ross’ chairmanship
*Budget: $8M
*Box Office: $10M WW gross
*Verdict: Dud. Marketing was awful and generally lacked the edge needed to pull pre-teens into theaters. Terrible decision to open it against FAST FIVE, which pulled in many teenage boys and their girlfriends. Should have never been greenlit as a theatrical title – needed to have gone straight to DVD.
- May 2011 – PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES (3D) released
*Greenlit under Rich Ross’ chairmanship
*MT Carney bypassed, marketing outsourced to veteran consultant Valeria Van Gelder (lack of faith in Ross’ own hire)
*Budget: $250M
*Box Office: $1B WW gross
*Verdict: Hit, but driven by Depp’s rabid fanbase, established audience for the franchise, and halo effect. Least profitable film of the franchise, but the biggest international opening ever (although disappointing domestic take), set records for reaching $500M, $600M and $700M worldwide the fastest and currently 8th highest-grossing film of all time.
- June 2011 – CARS 2 (3D) released
*Greenlit under Rich Ross’ chairmanship
*Marketed by Pixar
*Budget: $200M
*Box Office: $560M WW gross
*Verdict: Hit. Theatrical run profitable, but merchandising revenues put the title through the roof ($1B+). Benefited from established audience and halo effect. Became 6th biggest Pixar film in terms of WW box office among the 12 released, 4th largest opening day for an animated feature, largest opening weekend for a 2011 animated feature, 5th largest opening for Pixar, 4th largest among films released in June, and the 3rd largest for a G-rated film.
- July 2011 – WINNIE THE POOH released
*Greenlit and marketed by Disney under Rich Ross’ chairmanship
*Budget: $30M
*Box Office: $33M WW gross
*Verdict: Dud. Marketing not well-directed at target fanbase, specific audience for POOH is declining. Terrible scheduling decision to release it against HARRY POTTER PT 2 – while counter-programmed, families have little money left after shelling out for 3D tickets, food and gas.
- November 2011 – THE MUPPETS released
*Greenlit and marketed by Disney under Rich Ross’ chairmanship
*Budget: $45M
*Box Office: $158M WW gross
*Verdict: Profitable, particularly after merchandising and home media revenues taken into account. Driven by an existing fanbase and general halo effect for the characters. Well-executed marketing campaign including viral spoofs of competitive films, an Oscar appearance, and an attendance by Kermit the Frog at the world premiere of PIRATES 4 to promote his own film. The highest-grossing film of the franchise to date, and the most acclaimed installment in the series. Slaughtered mis-marketed same-day competition HUGO.
- January 2012 – Ross fires MT Carney as Marketing President
- January 2012 – Ross hires Ricky Strauss as Marketing President
- March 2012 – JOHN CARTER (3D) released
*Greenlit and marketed by Disney under Rich Ross’ chairmanship
*Budget: $250M
*Box Office: $270M WW gross
*Verdict: Dud, driven by an awful marketing campaign, lack of merchandising to boys and particularly uninspired TV spots. Also, release date issues – what worked well for ALICE in March 2010 does not work for all titles (see MARS NEEDS MOMS). Currently the biggest box office flop in history. Beyond comprehension, a sequel –
JOHN CARTER: THE GODS OF MARS announced for release sometime in 2014/15.
- April 2012 – Rich Ross fired
More executives are sure to follow with a creatively bankrupt future slate primarily composed of live-action fairytale “re-imaginings” and Disney ride adaptations. TRON 3, Marvel’s THOR 2 and CAPTAIN AMERICA 2 remain the most anticipated titles forthcoming in the next two years.
Recommendation is to hand the reins to Marvel’s Kevin Feige and return Disney Studios to solid “pre-Ross” profit levels. Marketing is a mess and should be accorded to Paramount’s Amy Powell to control costs and leverage modern social media marketing devices. Finally, release date scheduling seems to be a big challenge at the Mouse House. If this is not brought under control very quickly, Bailey should follow Rich Ross out the door.
All of this said, NO ONE should feel sorry for Rich Ross. While presiding over 2 of the top ten biggest box office flops in history in just three years (both marketed by his own regime) is an embarrassment he cannot EVER live down, he was given a golden compensation package as penalty for termination before the expiration of his contract, including severance pay and likely a shitload of stock options.
Also, it is very probable he will be given a housekeeping/studio production deal, which is standard studio procedure after booting top execs out of corporate.
And as someone mentioned elsewhere in this thread, he would be a PERFECT fit to turn Nickelodeon’s troubles around, given his outstanding track record at The Disney Channel.
Great post.
I had a quick opportunity to talk to Kevin Feige in London last week – very savvy guy who is creative BUT would he want to take on the mess that is Disney right now when can stay at his beloved and successful Marvel Studios?
not a surprise
Once Disney made a public announcement about all the money they lost on John Carter this one was kind of inevitable.
While John carter failed in the US, it made over 200 million overseas. Before DVD gross of $269 million total. How is a movie that made almost 20 mil before DVD the worst disaster in Hollywood? Almost every indie piece of garbage up for oscars loses money!!!
I liked John Carter and was surprised it flopped so badly. But it was extremely expensive, so the $269 gross doesn’t even begin to cover the budget. Indie oscar-winners only lose a fraction of that amount. Remember that about half that money goes to the theatres. Tangled cost about $250M and only started to turn a profit at the $500M worldwide mark. John Carter didn’t even come close. They lost a bundle.
Don’t forget that on top of marketing and production costs, there is also studio overhead and the 15% of box office that has to go back into distribution.
Also, remember that theatrical revenues on average account for only 20% of a film’s total take. Licensing and consumer products should have helped fill the void here, but INCREDULOUSLY, there were no merchandising efforts.
Where are the figurines and action figures? Lunch boxes? Video games? The only contracts handed out were for… BOOKS? For a MALE-targeted film?
Home entertainment (DVD/VOD) will help the bottom line, although to date, no broadcast or cable networks have stepped up to buy the film package for on-air television rights.
And does anyone know the residual contract for the rights to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ material? That must surely be a factor dirtying up potential earning power..
I think the failure of the marketing campaign itself has been covered in great detail on this site – from the drab and off-putting color schemes of the print campaign, to trailers that leave more questions than answers (not to mention the low wattage of the film’s supposed star).
Also, I think it was generally understood that CARTER fell squarely in the male-dominated “action” genre. Why the studio neglected to advertise during the Oscars to expand its awareness to the program’s core audience of gay men and women, I will never understand.
Lucky for Disney that its Media Networks Division (TV and Radio) carries the lion’s share of revenues for the company – the Studio Entertainment Group contributed only 7% in 2011.
That announcement while JC was still in theatres was one of the reasons he was let go, along with the bad marketing of a superb movie !
He must be proud of his legacy of mismanaged firings, hirings (carney and bailey) and boxoffice turds. What happens now, I wonder. It was apparent from the word ‘go’ that he was wrong for the job.
I sincerely hope that the main “leadership lesson” Rich Ross has learned is not to be so offensive and arrogant to those who actually make movies.
Is that a “shocker” really?
sarcasm?
Is Ricky Strauss running Walt Disney Pictures?
Let’s hope so! He could totally do this.
Strauss would totally kick in ass, he’s a leader, he’s creative, he’s also a great guy.
Ricky Strauss wins regardless in this situation.
#1–He is perfectly placed to deathmatch Stacey Snider for Ross’s old job.
#2–He inherits a new boss who will be too busy to screw with him.
or
#3–He inherits a new boss, who pays him a shitton of money to leave.
I love HOLLYWOOD!
Ricky is perfectly positioned to deathmatch Stacey for this job. or he gets a big fat pay out from his new boss. either way, he wins. Go Hollywood go!
Strauss is a lousy exec and a nightmare to work with. Arrogant just like Ross. I hope he makes a quick exit.
Holy cow! I had to read the date twice to make sure it wasn’t April 1st! John Carter notwithstanding, a bit of surprise.
checking the date… no, this is not April 1st. What?
Thank God. Someone has to take the fall for John Carter, and Tron:Legacy was released under his watch. Disney can’t take credit for Marvel as much as they want to. I’m no fan of Dick Cook, but at there was Pirates under his watch. Disney needs someone with creative tastes as well as marketing ability, and they had neither under grinning Rich Ross.
You have a short memory it was Dick Cook that started John Carter, and Tron, and that little furry Bruckheimer disaster. But, I do think he was over his head, and since he left Disney Channel the consistency in that channel and ratings have gone way down. He was best suited to run Disney Channel and not WDS.
Carter was started under Cook – but mismanaged under Ross.
Um….check your facts….Disney Channel is up in ratings across all demos and is now the #1 kids cable channel. Nickelodeon is the one that has fallen off a cliff in the ratings.
And it deserves to. Thanks a lot, Cosmo.
And Nickelodeon will likely be helmed under Rich Ross in the near future.
Actually, Disney Channels has had the highest ratings (record ratings) *after* Rich left, under his successor, Carolina (who also got canned 2 years into her role.
Zombie Steve Jobs.
Does this mean there wont be a John Carter sequel?
Oh… that’s cold.
Rich Ross is a very talented TV exec. It’s a shame he couldn’t make it in the film business.
What exactly is the “shocking” part?
After JOHN CARTER, someone had to go. Ross won’t be the last.
Surprising they didn’t give him a little bit longer but not shocking overall.
what took so long? they fire dick cook and nina jacobson and hired him? bye, rich.
that was quick…
Ding dong the witch is dead.
Can Disney now get back into the business of working with writers and directors and telling actual stories instead of being a merchandising tie-in factory designed to sell rides and plastic figurines?
Shouldn’t that be ‘Ding dong the Rich is dead’?
Now all we need is an ‘Iger Sanction’.
Nope.
Worldwide B.O. for CARS — $461 million
Worldwide merchandise sales — $9 billion
Which business would you be in?
Essentially, the movies are just long, sometimes entertaining commercials for the toys, rides, bed sheets, sippy cups, diapers, car seat covers and whatever else they can smack a character’s face on.
Shareholder returns depend on it.
Yes, and why do they have $9 billion in merch sales?
Because of a brand BUILT on story and trusting writers and directors. If they were just great commercials and Lasseter just directed to sell merch, it would be that successful? Ask John himself.
No great stories, no great merch sales. Simple math.
And it is the same thing for all advertising. One major example is the Apple 1984 ad where a woman liberated drones listening to the man with the power.
It’s a mixture of both. First the script is written, but before final polish the merchandising tie-ins/product placements are sprinkled in.
But yes, “thanks” is right – you don’t just churn out garbage and then hit it with a Ford F-Series or throw Samsung Galaxys all over the place.
That is the bottom line; do with the business what Walt would have done. Tell great stories.
This was allegedly the guy who sandbagged John Carter because it was an inherited project. Glad to see the plan backfired. He doomed a very good movie and a faithful adaptation that fans enjoyed. Should have, could have been a blockbuster if he had treated it with the respect it deserved.
Did you see the same movie I did? Faithful adaptation maybe, but the movie still sucked because the original source material sucked. A confederate soldier goes to Mars to fight a war and fall in love? Really? If the fans enjoyed it so much, why didn’t they flock to the cineplex with all their friends and help Disney save face with this turd of a movie.
I loved JOHN CARTER! I want Disney to re-release it at Summer’s end with merchandising and tie-ins in place. Ross lost his job for failing to market the film properly. Even then – Box Office Mojo says the world wide take is $270M! Not a flop!
Ross was bad at his job. Sorry. JOHN CARTER is a movie worth watching. It deserves the planned sequels.
The wonderfulness of the John Carter film serves to highlight the failure of its marketing – which seemed determined to destroy any chance of an audience actually going to see it – for which Mr. Ross was ultimately responsible. Disney should repackage it for re-release this summer as a standard blockbuster, with appropriate marketing and a new title of course.
No it shouldn’t.
Mary Parent can be reached on the set of Pacific Rim in Toronto. Call her now, Bob Iger, and get an actually film person in there to run your film empire.
smartest post on deadline in 6 months
Super smart. Remember how she turned MGM around… Oh, nevermind.
MGM had no money. She put together good projects, but her hands were always tied.
Her tenure at MGM was awful. More money will allow her to make bigger awful. Sometimes it’s not money, it’s connections and taste.
I am sick of this “she didn’t have adequate financing to release any profit-churning material into the marketplace” cop-out. Excuse me? How much did PARANORMAL ACTIVITY make based on a budget of less than $1M??
Maybe Disney should bring in Amy Powell since they are so keen on cutting costs and maximizing profits on limited budgets these days. I assure you the marketing wouldn’t suck as bad as it did for THIS film…
Agreed. Mary Parent is just sitting out there, twiddling her thumbs with an uninspired producing deal.
She’s a great exec and presided over a great era at Universal.
That is actually f’ing brilliant.
Shocker? Even I saw this coming and I work in Human Resources in Florida.
Perfect. This is why I read Deadline every day…the comments.
All I can say is OH HAPPY DAY !!!!!!!!!
Falling on John Carter’s sword?
Can we bring a great exec like Jason Reed back please?
Yes! Yes! Yes!
Why – does Jason know a great exec?
Jason Reed is one of those people “whom I consider to be the absolute best in the business” who was “doing work that leverages the full range of their abilities” who got kicked to the curb on a business hunch gone bad. “It’s one of the leadership lessons I’ve learned during my career”, too bad for those like Jason Reed. I’ve always thought that learning at someone else’s expense bordered on a con-job and an was excuse to justify actions that in hindsight that were ill advised. Best of fortune to Reed in whatever he does; and to Rich Ross too as he goes out into the real environment of LA and puts these costly lessons to work.
You’re kidding right? If not, that is the dumbest comment I’ve heard in ages. Besides, Iger wouldn’t even give him the president gig, let alone chairman.
The moral of this story: NEVER allow a TV guy to run a film studio. They DON’T KNOW what they’re doing!
Bob Iger came out of TV. So did Peter Chernin. So did Brad Grey. Just because Rich Ross failed does not a pattern make.
Shocking how?
Two word: John Carter.
I little bird told me that Tim Palen is getting the job.
That makes perfect sense and I also heard from a very reliable source that Disney is making a replacement from outside the company.
that is the most terrifying thing I have read all day. ack!
Is he going to try and pin this on Dick Cook, too? The inability to say no to Andrew Stanton is having a profound effect on Disney’s future.
That’s nonsense. Even with it’s crazy budget, John Carter could’ve come close to break-even with a decent marketing campaign. And Finding Nemo continues to bring $$$ to Disney so I don’t think Stanton is in any trouble here.
Stanton’s not in trouble. He was involved with and responsible for big Pixar hits and John Carter would’ve been, too, if it had been marketed properly. Idiot critics who couldn’t follow it (what’s so hard to follow? It was easy to enjoy), or were even racist in their comments about Martian Tharks (no kidding… “they all look alike”) show severe lack of observational and comprehension skills, or didn’t have a clue about the original Edgar Rice Burroughs books, should be ignored as they usually are. Most people I know who didn’t go to see it only didn’t because of the “news” that it tanked. Most of the people I know who actually saw it liked it. I only know two people who didn’t – I know 12 who did like it. It is still far from the worst performing movie ever as the money is still rolling in and the DVD pre-release is hot at Amazon.