Alan F. Horn Tapped to Revive Disney Studios

by Christopher Freeburn | June 1, 2012 3:20 pm

Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS[1]) is moving to recover from the fallout of its March box-office mega-bomb “John Carter.”

On Thursday, the company named the former head of Time Warner‘s (NYSE:TWX[2]) Warner Brothers Studios, Alan F. Horn, as the new chairman of Walt Disney Studios[3]. Horn will assume his duties on June 11.

He replaces Rich Ross who was forced out in the wake of “John Carter’s” staggering $200 million loss[4].

Though Ross had green-lighted the hugely-expensive science fiction film based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic tales of Mars, his departure had less to do with the movie’s spectacular failure and more to do with internal Disney politics, insiders told the New York Times.

Ross was seen as arrogant by many Disney executives and never gained the support of prominent movie-makers including Joe Roth and Jerry Bruckheimer. The massive write-down from “John Carter” simply accelerated his departure.

At Warner Brothers, Horn oversaw the successful “Harry Potter” films as well as “300,” “The Dark Knight” and “Ocean’s Eleven.” He was forced to retire last year as Warner promoted younger managers.

Horn will oversee Marvel, Pixar, DreamWorks and Hollywood Records in addition to Walt Disney Studios.

He joins the studio as it continues to bask in the glow of “The Avengers” which has raked in $1.3 billion in worldwide box office receipts in the last month. Still, he inherits a studio whose movie pipeline has few upcoming releases[5]. Choosing new hits for Disney Studios will be his major task.

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2012/06/alan-f-horn-tapped-to-revive-disney-studios/

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