Photo Credit: @joachimronning on Instagram
The next installment in the cult sci-fi franchise Tron, titled Tron: Ares, has begun filming.
Tron is a Disney franchise that has gained cult status over the years. The series consists of two films, Tron from 1982, and a sequel, Tron: Legacy, released almost thirty years later in 2011.
The latter film came out to little fanfare. It was received to mixed acclaim, though it was a commercial success and received praise for its editing and VFX.
Even though it didn’t have much buzz, the franchise seemed to have a bright future. Alongside Tron: Legacy was the animated series Tron: Uprising, which aired on DisneyXD for one season, and two versions of the tie-in game Tron: Evolution.
The world of The Grid was actively being fleshed out, and the franchise had received a new spark of life. But for years after, there wasn’t much more than silence on the future adventures of Tron (Bruce Boxleitner), Sam (Garrett Hedlund), Quorra (Olivia Wilde), and Beck (voiced by Elijah Wood).
In 2015, Kosinski was set to direct another Tron movie, alongside Tron: Legacy stars Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde, though plans for this quickly fell through.
According to Kosinski, his Tron: Legacy follow-up, titled Tron: Ascension didn’t move forward because of the traction Disney had gained with Marvel and Star Wars.
He stated “You have to remember that when we made TRON: Legacy, Disney did not own Marvel. Disney did not own Lucasfilm…they own everything now.
He goes on to say “If you can make a Star Wars spinoff or another Marvel movie, which are all doing incredibly well, a TRON movie, even though I think it would do very well, the question is: Would it do as well as one of those?”
Now, thirteen years later, it seems that the answer is: yes!
Kosinski described his vision for Tron 3 as an invasion film that “blows open the concept of TRON in a way that would be thrilling to see on screen”. Whether Tron: Ares will use this script or any aspects of its plot remains to be seen, though it has already followed Kosinski’s example in one regard.
This current version of a Tron: Legacy sequel has been in production limbo since 2017. The movie has suffered a number of delays, including losing writers, its director, and long years of radio silence. Most recently, principal photography was halted due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.
Kosinski went on to direct another iconic legacy sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, and is not attached to Tron: Ares. He has been seen with director Joachim Rønning during pre-production, though only to pass the baton and not in a creative capacity.
Rønning shared a picture last week on Instagram showing a director’s chair, with the movie’s logo on the back. The logo notably lacks mention of the subtitle Ares, and simply has the title stylized as “TR3N”.
Among the cast are TV icons Evan Peters, Gillian Anderson, and Cameron Monaghan, all respectively known for their work in FX’s “American Horror Story”, Fox’s “The X-Files”, and Showtime’s “Shameless”.
Alongside them will be Jared Leto, who has been attached to the project since 2017, Greta Lee, and Jodie Turner-Smith. Leto will also serve as a producer.
The movie will be written by Jack Thorne and Jesse Wigutow. Jeff Cronenweth, known for his work on “Fight Club”, “Gone Girl”, and “The Social Network”, will serve as cinematographer.
Rønning announced the start of filming via an Instagram post on Jan. 19. The post (pictured above) is of a director chair with the film’s logo, TR3N, on the back of it. The photo is captioned “WEEK 1 ON THE GRID🥏🥏🥏 #Tron”.
There was a subsequent story post of a clapboard that also displayed the film’s logo.
Though there isn’t much known currently about the story of Tron: Ares. At most, we can expect the plot to center around Jared Leto’s titular character.
Even with the few details that have been given, fans remain excited for this second coming of a beloved sci-fi franchise. The movie currently has no release date, though it is expected to release sometime in 2025.
After its creation has been up, down, left, and right, Disney has decided to be a friend to Tron fans and selected to start production on a new installment in the franchise.