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Summary Rich Ross' resignation comes after the box office flop of sci-fi film Jonny Carter.
The chairman of Walt Disney Studios has resigned, a month after it suffered a massive box office flop with the widely-panned sci-fi fantasy film John Carter.Rich Ross, a 15-year Disney veteran, made no reference to the movie which lost around $200m, in his resignation statement.He said that he no longer believed his role as chairman of Walt Disney Studios was the right professional fit.The flop of John Carter ranks with historys biggest box office disasters.Disneys animated movie Mars Needs Moms from last year cost around £94m to make but only sold £25m in tickets worldwide, according to reports.Mr Ross, who became chairman in 2009, was previously the president of the Disney Channel when it created the hugely successful High School Musical and Hannah Montana series.Disney is not expected to appoint a new studio chairman immediately.Company boss Bob Iger, who said last summer that big-budget movies were getting increasingly more risky, thanked Ross for his years of service.For more than a decade, Rich Ross creative instincts, business acumen and personal integrity have driven results in key businesses for Disney.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.Mr Ross joined the Disney Channel in 1996 as a programming and production executive and was promoted to president of the cable channel in 2004.
