Following a decision in August to halt production [1] on Henry Selick's untitled stop-motion feature, according to a report by Variety [2] Disney has announced that the company will take a $50 million write-down in the current fiscal quarter. The film was slated for release on October 4, 2014.
"We are taking a specific write down at the studio of $50 million, or two cents a share, for some work we discontinued after taking a look at it," said Disney chief financial officer Jay Rasulo at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch conference on Thursday. "It will be a short-term, fourth quarter impact."
The project is the first feature Alan Horn has pulled the plug on since replacing Rich Ross as chairman of the Walt Disney Studios in June.
After a 3D version of Finding Nemo hits theaters this weekend, Disney's next two big screen releases are the stop-motion Frankenweenie, directed by Tim Buron, in October, and Wreck-It Ralph, from Walt Disney Animation Studios, in November.
Links:
[1] http://www.awn.com/news/business/disney-halts-henry-selick-s-animated-film
[2] http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118059208.html