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Disney pulls the plug on Tron after it bombs at the box office.
Disney puts future Tron films on hold after Legacy disappoints.
Disney cancels Tron Uprising after one season due to poor viewership.
Disney cancels Tron 4 after Ares underperforms…
I’m pretty sure the problem is Disney.
Or Tron itself. It's also named in every sentence of yours...
It's the same problem that every mid 80's zeitgeist based resurrected IP faces:
The zeitgeist the movie is based on has been dead for at least 30 years.
For Tron, personal computers aren't new anymore. The concept of a digital city is so much less exciting once you've lived with the internet for 20 years and heard mark Zuckerberg wank endlessly about the "metaverse."
I think audiences were ready for visiting the virtual world in 2010. Smart phones were new and cool and not sinister yet, it was possible to feel hopeful for the internet...15 years later, not so much.
I liked Tron and Tron Legacy (haven't watched Ares), but Disney has spent the last decade plus killing good franchises with shitty scripts, so I'm leaning more towards Disney being the problem.
The concept of Tron,is a good one. And the first movie, while not perfect, is pretty good. Theres enough there, that Disney could have created its very own Star Wars franchise. Instead they bought Star Wars, and gave it the Tron treatment to make sure that died as well.
The problem is very much Disney. With Marvel, they got the right creatives together to make mostly solid movies that people liked. Over the past 5 years, they have pissed all that away with being Disney things. And a few months ago, I read that they were looking for another ip to buy so they could bring the gen Z male audience back... Which is telling as fuck, when they have Marvel and Star Wars, but dont know how to make them appeal to the younger male audience so much that they need to buy another IP.
I think the bigger problem is that it's just moved away from what Tron is supposed to be about. Like the whole point of Tron is it happens in the computer world what is the point of bringing it into the real world. Then it's just a weird sci-fi movie with sort of but not really aliens invading, and the market is saturated with sci-fi films with alien invasions.
That's just it. The money bros are spineless. Alien invasion movies have a track record of making money. Making Tron true the source material is a gamble insofar as there's no movie said money bros can point to and use as citation for projected revenue.
Having seen the movie, I think it’s actually a decent setup for the plot. The crux of the conflict is that programs can only exist in the real world for 29 minutes before dissolving, and the good mega corporation and bad mega corporation want the “permanence code.”
This time limit adds tension to the real world scenes in a pretty compelling way, because the good guys only need to escape capture for that half hour before gaining some respite. This is reinforced by the moments of viewing the world through the programs’ eyes, which always include the countdown to how much longer they have. There were times I thought “oh they only have a couple minutes” without stretching my suspension of disbelief beyond what’s required to watch a movie where flesh and blood can be digitized by a laser.
It also allows more interplay between the real and digital world that I felt was lacking in the older movies. Those ones call the digitized humans “users,” but it never feels like they are that different when they are in the console rather than at it. This movie has a lot of scenes that cut between the bad guy sitting at his desk typing in commands and the programs in the grid of his computer hearing them as orders and treating him with reverence appropriate to a machine. There’s a hacking scene where you see the programs from one server grid break through the literal firewalls and cut through antivirus programs that does a good job feeling like an abstraction of what is happening in the real world scenes.
All that said, I went to this movie for the soundtrack and pretty visuals, and while the light bikes and such in the real world did look cool, they would have looked a lot cooler in the digital world. There’s one action scene that is, and it is the coolest part of the movie.
I 1000000000% didn't and won't go see this movie because of him.
And after cancelling D+ and Hulu last month because they fucked up the Kimmel thing, it may be years before I see it, who knows!
But, initially, when I saw Leto in the trailer that was a quick "nope" from me, dawg.
Creativity at disney is moribund and nothing can fix it without getting rid of the old dead growth. Get rid of iger and similar execs like kennedy. They degrade any project. They dont love the products they produce. I remember one time kennedy commenting on star wars that there wasn't enough source material. Her problem was she would have to pay for it and thinks the writers are not important. That kind of weak thinking is stagnating disney. It will continue until these fossils are gone.
they also pump out so much low-quality garbage too, rather then focusing on 1-3 IP movies , but streaming cost means it demands more content each year.
I'm not a big Leto fan. He's not the worst actor, but he's by no means great. But Gary Oldman couldn't have made this movie work. The problem isn't the acting, it's the script. The movie felt like it was designed and written by a marketing committee. Everything about it is formulaic and hollow.
That's something that Disney regularly has a problem with. They used to find interesting, compelling stories that writers were excited to create.
Now, most of their films are being pushed from the top to expand their known IPs or messaging. The story has become secondary to the product.
Bob Iger said just a couple years back that they had a few flops with new ideas and we're going to focus on existing IPs and brands. He's leading Disney into a second direct to home video sequel era. Just like the one that nearly killed the company in the 80s.
Disney is riding high on nostalgia and brand recognition but is quickly burning their capital of good will. The youngest generation isnt getting that same nostalgia that's going to turn them into Disney fans like the 90s kids had. We're 30 something's with a bit of disposable income, and Disney is bleeding us dry after making us their primary demographic. They no longer cater to families, and they no longer are looking to make new, young fans.
It's honestly depressing to see how much that company has fallen. I got hired to work at Disneyland back in 2008 and spent 8 years of my life trying to bring happiness to the guests that came there. I agreed with and worked hard to bring their message to life. But in my time there, and since, I've seen a continual shift from taking care of their employees, making it a great place to work, and to make the best entertainment they can.
Leto was a long term producer of Ares. He had a say in all those things.
Tron never was a thing and Disney keeps trying to make it a thing. The concept was cool in the 80s but no one has cared since the property.
I'm just glad Hollywood hasn't made remakes of Flight of the Navigator and Neverending story.
Neverending story
Hate to be that guy but:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_NeverEnding_Story_II:_The_Next_Chapter
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_NeverEnding_Story_III
II is though more of a shitty sequel but III is a shitty original story.
And finally: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_NeverEnding_Story_(film)#Possible_remake
Ackchtually... :-)
The first movie is the first HALF of the original book, and the second movie is the second half.
They sliced an (awesome) ending into the middle of the book, and the vibes of the second movie were different, but it was authentic to the book.
Now as for the THIRD movie, your point is legit. (Also fun to note, it has Jack Black as a street punk.)
Yes. let's start with that.
After that we can go and have a look at the people green lighting new movies these days.
I hate Jared leto. Still went to see it because I like every other aspect of the film.
I was overall disappointed. Theres loads of good stuff in it. Like lots. One part I audibly went "oh wow that's cool" involuntarily. However, the dialogue absolutely ruined it. And the actor for the main female was somehow more wooden than leto.
When usually, for me, Leto is the worst part of any movie he's in. This time he was fine in it.
Also it ends on cliff hanger. I knew Disney were never going to continue it though like they never properly followed up on legacy. Disney are just too risk averse since to try hard enough to make something good. It's irritating because almost all of the pieces were there, even with leto.
I myself was hyped until I saw Jared Leto, i just don’t wanna see him in anything
I mean, I loved the first film, and the second one was the second best daft punk music video (it's not close though) but who really cares? Why did anyone feel like we needed endless shit Tron sequels?
The second one is a glorious movie to have in 4k bluray when you want to sit there and say "ooooh pretty" for 90 minutes.
Something Tron fans seem to forget, and Disney forgets it every so often, the first Tron was a significant failure as well. Yeah, flashy effects and a cool concept, but it wasn't as relevant to a wider crowd yet. And Legacy wasn't exactly a success in the box office either. Many forget that Tron appeals to a smaller crowd and isn't the blockbuster franchise it should be.
Disney dont know how to market to boys. I was a kid when the OG Tron came out, and I loved it. But the marketing was non existent. There was very little in the way of pushing the movie into the hearts and minds of kids, the same way Star Wars, or heman, or transformers, or even fucking gobots had.
In fact, when I say Tron for the first time it was part of a disney kids double bill. That other movie being Something Wicked This Way comes... Which was, to say they least, creepy as all fuck. These movies went together like peanut butter and a sloppy dogshit.
Tron is a masterclass in how to fuck up a franchise.
A lot of people think that, but it turns out a lot of people are wrong.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tron
$17m budget, $50m box office, and it basically created CGI on the way.
I think people just assume such an acid trip of a movie with such a goofy costume has to have flopped, but nope.
Disney didn’t know wtf to do with Tron. I thought Legacy was a great addition to the universe, but this time around it was nothing more than skipping to the end of the Marvel universe with the Boss Battle bent on world domination with flashy CGI characters. It added nothing. Plus a controversial actor like Leto might be an indication that nobody else wanted the gig for the budget or the poor writing. Couldn’t have possible chose a worse or more boring addition to the franchise. Ruined it, IMO, and I have been a Tron fan since forever.
I went to the cinema to see the original and loved it. It blew my mind. It's iconic.
Then I went to the cinema to watch Legacy and I really enjoyed it. It's not as good as the original but it still had great aesthetics and the music is brilliant.
Then it was "oooh, they are making another one?!! Yes! I can't wait to...what? No, wait. Leto? Really? Oh well, maybe if I'm alive when the next one comes out I'll go see that instead"
The guy, to me, is just plain unlikeable. He's ok in very small bit parts in films, but when he's the main character then I can't watch it. When I go to the cinema I want to be entertained for a few hours, not annoyed.
Yes Jared Leto is to blame. BUT not only him. The writing and directing are still going to determine the bulk of how it plays out. A good director will be able to direct Leto into something usable if imperfect.
TIL we all hate Jared Leto now.
I'll watch it eventually for the soundtrack, but Jared gives me the creeps.
Is Jared Leto to Blame?
Yes.
I caved and saw Ares last weekend. Tron legacy is one of my all time favorite movies so I’ve always been wanting another and would occasionally look up rumors about sequels. When the Ares trailer dropped I was super excited…until the end when it showed Leto. I had forgotten the rumors had mentioned he was involved.
Still, I went and saw the movie. It’s by no means as good as legacy, I scored it a 6/10. Something that I’d rather not watch again, but also something that I felt wasn’t a complete waste of time. But I’m easy to entertain.
What stood out to me while watching Ares was how well legacy holds up today compared to current special effects and CGI. Doesn’t really seem like much difference in that regard between the two movies. Of course, Daft Punk’s soundtrack is second to none, but I think NIN still did a good job.
Guess I’ll just need to continue rewatching legacy whenever I feel the Tron itch, which I’m not complaining about.
It's a franchise built on boomer/Gen X understandings of video games and technology. We are in 2025 now, young people don't give a shit about this stuff, yet they still try to pitch these films to a younger audience. The actual base concept of being trapped inside a video game has been incredibly popular with younger audiences in the last decade or so - look at all the stuff that has come out of Japan. The difference is that those films and TV series used modern video games as their inspiration, so younger audiences intuitively understand and connect with their worlds. TRON as a franchise is like some 50-year-old dad forcing his teenager to play some shitty 2D video game whilst rambling about how much fun he had with it back in the day. Your audience doesn't care and it's embarrassing that you haven't worked this out yet.
Honestly a lot of the problem is that TRON is one of those pregenitor medi that hasn't adapted over the decades. It has a really solid design that could've been updated and adapted with the gaming media as a whole every ten years or so. But unlike say Dune, Mad Max, or westerns/samurai films it didn't have a timelessness to hold it over. If it had taken a multimedia approach like say star wars it could've held up a lot better. But it's calcified and the people at Disney are too inept to do something truly interesting with it.
Imagine a TRON series that follows different genres and settings that have been popular over the years. The RPG boom of the late 90s, the RTS craze of the early to mid aughts, or the shooter take over of the late aughts early teens. But alas that's more likely to come out of fucking SAO than TRON at this point.
Yeah, they seem to be stuck between the nostalgia bait of the original and special-effects driven attempts to capture younger, modern audiences. The Super Mario Bros. Movie was a good example of how you can update the look and feel of a multi-generational product whilst retaining enough nods to older fans for them to feel included.
there was a post on reddit how the frontcover the tron movies always had a woman with the lead male actor, but for jared leto no woman wants to be next to him, so hes alone on the front cover.
It's not always Jared Leto's fault when his movies bomb. Easy scapegoat for the everyone else involved, fron the writer to director to producer, to just blame him and pretend no one else fucked it up.
Given some of the bad dialogue (e.g., Ares talking about why he likes Depeche Mode), my impression is that Jared Leto used his role as producer to push the production in certain directions that appealed to his personal preferences. I went in wanting to like the movie (I love Tron: Legacy and NIN so I was definitely excited by certain aspects of the movie), but the movie felt too much like a Leto vanity project. So yeah, I think that, in this case, it's fair to blame Leto for the movie's failure, even though, like you say, there were failures across the board, from many people involved.
Seeing how much of an egomaniac the dude is, and straight up like psycho levels of self absorbed, this rings true to me as well. When I saw the poster in theaters I was beside myself as I LOVED Legacy, but the second In started to see the posters with Leto I noped the fuck out. I still had lingering hope, but the lashback from opening week makes it apparent I should wait to stream it.
Yes.
