DISNEY SHAREHOLDERS MEET FOLLOWING CARTER DISASTER

Disney shareholders are holding their annual meeting in Kansas City, MO today (Tuesday), just days after the studio suffered one of the worst box-office disasters in history. Analysts said that the company could face a write-off of $100-150 million for John Carter, which reportedly cost more than $350 million to produce and market but which flopped at the domestic box office with just $31 million in ticket sales. (Its overseas haul amounted to more than $70 million, but it has a long way to go to achieve the $700 million needed just to break even.) Disney CEO Robert Iger all but ignored the debacle, setting a positive note at the shareholders meeting by announcing that the company is launching an initiative to hire and train 1,000 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “The military values of honor, integrity, commitment and courage, along with the skills and experience they’ve gained through their service, make veterans incredibly valuable employees, and we want them for Disney,” Iger said.