Two and a half years ago Rich Ross became Studio Chief of Disney, with a purpose to restructure the studio to cut costs while developing new projects. Unfortunately the marketing for the big budget film John Carter caused a massive loss for the studio. Due to this, Ross is stepping down as the Studio Chief. Rather than going down in flames, Ross bowed out gracefully, leaving a memo to Disney staff:

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. I no longer believe the chairman role is the right professional fit for me.”

Disney hasn’t announced a successor yet.

So there we have it — a casualty of the bad marketing of John Carter. It really wasn’t ideal to market a film without being informative about a character or story that is unknown to the general audience. It’s especially not a good idea to portray one as an action film when it’s more along the lines of a sci-fi romance.

Hopefully it’s a hard-learned lesson.

[Time]