It’s so easy to forget that Tron is owned by Disney, and always has been. The original Tron movie and its 2010 sequel Tron: Legacy never took off the way Disney might have liked, and its future was uncertain for a while. But after spending more than a decade in development hell, a third movie might finally happen.
to me final date (Opens in a new tab) The film is currently called “Tron: Ares” and director Joachim Rønning (Pirates of the Caribbean 5) is said to be in talks to helm the film. The film also appears to have cast Jared Leto in the title role, with the current script coming from writer Jesse Wigoto. Deadline says deals haven’t been finalized, but filming could begin in August in Vancouver.
My only major question now is if Disney will be able to reunite Daft Punk to compose the soundtrack. The Tron Legacy soundtrack was, without a doubt, the best part of the movie, so much so that it could also be a Daft Punk music video extended play. Tron: Ares will only suffer as a result of the duo not participating.
We don’t know much about the plot of Tron: Ares, though the second movie ended up revealing that digital people can escape from the virtual world and into our own. This obviously has huge ramifications, and was something that was meant to be explored in a sequel. And now it looks like that sequel is finally going to happen.
The history of the Tron franchise is turbulent, to say the least. The original 1982 film was designed to be Disney’s foray into blockbuster science fiction. While it was well received, it only grossed $50 million at the global box office. It wasn’t terrible, but it fell short of Disney’s expectations at the time.
The cult following later saw Disney greenlight a sequel, which was released in 2010 and cost $170 million to develop. Sadly, the movie was received with mixed reviews and only earned $400 million at the box office. Not a bad show, but really not enough to warrant a sequel. Certainly not since Disney had started bringing in MCU cash by that point, and would still buy Lucasfilm and the Star Wars franchise just two years later.
In fact, just last year, you see: legacy director Joseph Kosinski has been confirmed (Opens in a new tab) Disney ended up prioritizing investments in well-known properties rather than the “weird art student Tron with black nails in the corner.”
Why have things changed? It’s not entirely clear, though it can’t be a coincidence that the much-anticipated Tron Lightcycle Run opens at Walt Disney World in April. Perhaps the hype around the roller coaster convinced Disney that it was worth giving Tron another chance. Especially if it means the company can sell more merchandise in and out of its theme parks.
Expect to hear more about Tron: Ares over the coming weeks and months. I know I will definitely keep my ears open.
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