Walt Disney will lose $200m on what is set to be one of the biggest flops in Hollywood history.

John Carter, an action film about an American civil war hero transported to Mars, cost an estimated $250m to make and $100m to market, but has taken no more than $184 at box offices.  Disney shares fell one per cent after the announcement, and it had to adjust its earnings guidance for the quarter.

The film was described as "deadly dull" by New York's Time Out magazine, and received almost universally negative reviews. It was awarded only 51 per cent on the 'Tomatometer' for the movie site Rotten Tomatoes, and the Telegraph gave the film two stars, saying: "almost everything on screen is old hat".

The film was directed by Andrew Stanton, who was behind Finding Nemo and Wall-E – both of which won Oscars. What made this one fail so spectacularly?

Looking back on recent box office flops, it seems there’s a bit of a Martian theme.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, last year's biggest failure was Mars needs Moms, a film about a nine-year-old boy who regrets being rude to his mother after she is abducted by Martians. The project cost $150m to make and only took $39m at the box office.

Red Planet, released in 2000, and starring Carrie-Anne Moss and Val Kilmer, was another Mars themed failure, losing $82.4m worldwide.

The list of box office woe also includes Mission To Mars (2000) and My Favourite Martian (1999).

With warnings written in the skies, Disney made a last minute change,  deleting the words "Of Mars" from the original title. But too little, too late - it seems the moral is to avoid the planet altogether.