The Tron franchise has had such a rough time that it’s constantly amazing that it has become a franchise at all. The first Tron movie was a financial failure after it failed to find an audience at the box office. Decades later a sequel called Tron: Legacy would finally be made. And while that flick was a modest hit, a follow-up would not be forthcoming quickly. Finally, after all this time, a third Tron movie was set to go into production, but now the writers’ and actors’ strike has indefinitely delayed the movie.
Director Joachim Rønning, who previously helmed Maleficent: Mistress of Evil and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales for Disney, is set to handle yet another Disney live-action sequel in Tron: Ares, the upcoming sequel that will star Jared Leto as the title character. The movie had been rumored for years, so its exact status was unclear but with several actors joining the Tron: Ares cast, it seemed clear production was set to begin soon. Rønning revealed on Instagram yesterday that principal photography was set to begin then, but obviously is not due to the ongoing strike. He explained…
Today was supposed to be our first day of principal photography on TRON: ARES (a movie subsequently about AI and what it means, and takes, to be human). Instead, we are shut down with over a hundred and fifty people laid off. It’s indefinite, which makes it exponentially harder for everyone.
Rønning is clearly frustrated by the situation. While he doesn’t publicly blame one side or the other for the ongoing impasse in negotiations, he encourages all involved to get to the table and work out a deal that everybody is happy with so that everyone can just get back to making movies. He included several images of him directing his various films, saying that these are his favorite moments as a director and he wants to get back to them. Check out his post below.
So with the planned start date of Tron: Ares in the past, it puts the movie’s future into legitimate question. At some point, the strikes will end, but when that happens there will be a lot of movies and TV projects looking to get back underway, so it’s far from certain that Ares would start filming immediately once the option was available. And with so much looking to get started, Tron could be put on the back burner once again.
A sequel to Tron: Legacy was first planned years ago, and the decision not to move forward had nothing to do with the movie itself. It was the failure of other Disney live-action films that killed the movie known as Tron: Ascension. Tron 3 has never been a priority for Disney, and it’s hard to imagine it will be now. Some movies may get canceled entirely to make room for others when the strike finally ends. Hopefully, this won’t be one of them
