Sony’s marketing chief out after expensive summer flops ‘White House Down’ and ‘After Earth’

Disney may have had a flop this summer, but at least its animated hits helped the studio out. Sony didn’t have animated hits to rely on, so when After Earth, White House Down and Elysium all failed to be huge hits, the writing was on the wall for someone at the studio. It turned out that the first person stepping down is Sony’s worldwide marketing chief, Mark Weinstock.

Although Sony didn’t issue a statement, reports by TheWrap and Variety confirmed the news. He has also disappeared from Sony’s senior management list.

Weinstock had been with the studio since 2006. He had seen recently successful worldwide campaigns for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Zero Dark Thirty and others, but the failure of the studio’s three 2013 summer films to be hits likely lead to him leaving. After Earth, White House Down and Elysium failed to draw audiences. (White House was particularly hurt by Olympus Has Fallen’s success earlier in the year.)

Dwight Caines, who leads Sony’s digital marketing department, may be Weinstock’s successor. He’s been at Sony for 16 years and earned his current position in 2008, reporting to Weinstock.

According to Bloomberg, ticket sales for Sony’s films have fallen by 32 percent in the U.S. Sony previously lead Hollywood in 2012 with the most tickets sold.

It’s worth noting that Sony didn’t have a major superhero release and none of its films were sequels. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 hits theaters in May 2014, so that could help out next year.