TRON: Ares was predicted by many to be one of this year’s most popular releases, but it has unfortunately suffered from an underwhelming box office performance and fairly mixed reviews from critics. The film wasn’t as much of a box office giant as many were hoping, and that can only bode poorly for the prospect of a sequel.
The TRON franchise has a strange relationship with sequels. The first movie was released way back in 1982, and it wasn’t until 2010 that a sequel was finally created. TRON: Legacy‘s success felt like the perfect spark to get this franchise back up and running, but it was another fifteen years before TRON: Ares finally came out.
With the growing interest in franchises in today’s film industry, there will certainly have been some interest at Disney in turning TRON into the fully-fledged franchise that it’s always wanted to be. However, the underperformance of Ares makes this difficult to envision — and that may be a good thing.
TRON: Ares Works Best As A Standalone Movie
Viewing Ares as the spark that could have rebooted the TRON franchise is a fundamental misunderstanding of what this story is trying to do. Where Legacy was clearly a direct follow-up to the 1982 original, this feels like a much more self-contained story that barely wants to be a legacy sequel at all.
Ares‘ story introduces plenty of new characters and technologies that aren’t familiar to the TRON franchise, and if you simply removed Kevin Flynn’s cameo from the screenplay, then it wouldn’t really be identifiable as a TRON movie. This feels very different, and that’s not the best foundation for a franchise revival.
In fact, it’s the forced connections and Easter eggs that hold TRON: Ares back from being a truly great sci-fi movie. There’s a fascinating story about autonomy, freedom, and sacrifice buried in there, but it’s often held back by its insatiable need to fit neatly into the franchise timeline.
Bringing Joseph Kosinski Back Doesn’t Seem Feasible
There’s very little debate that TRON: Legacy is the most exciting and ambitious entry in this franchise to date, and Joseph Kosinski’s bold direction is a huge reason for that. The director knows exactly how to take advantage of these mᴀssive set pieces and neon-soaked visuals, giving the project such a distinct style that Ares doesn’t quite replicate.
Whenever a franchise finds itself faltering, bringing back an accomplished filmmaker is often the first solution that a studio will consider. However, Kosinski is at a very different point in his career today than he was in 2010, and it doesn’t seem very plausible that he’d be able to make time for TRON 4.
Kosinski will soon enter production on Top Gun 3 and will also be taking the reins of an upcoming Miami Vice reboot shortly after that. It’s hard to see exactly where he would find the time to work on TRON 4. He was credited as an executive producer on TRON: Ares, but writing and directing are more hands-on roles that take more time.
TRON Isn’t A Reliable Box Office Property
As TRON: Ares has recently proven, this franchise isn’t the commercial giant that Disney seemingly considered it to be. The movies are popular with a very specific audience, but neither Legacy nor Ares has managed to make a substantial dent at the worldwide box office. The latest sequel has barely scraped $33 million across its opening week (via THR).
This was $10 million less than what TRON: Ares was projected to make, and a notable step down from Legacy‘s $172 million lifetime gross. Ares clearly has time to catch up throughout the coming weeks, but it’s definitely starting to seem like this franchise is in some serious commercial trouble.
Considering how much Disney has pumped into the film’s marketing, and how much was spent on the dazzling special effects, Ares could end up being a major financial loss for the studio. It’s not worth running this risk again with TRON 4, even if Ares ends up becoming a cult classic. It’s just not enough of a box office draw.
TRON: Ares Really Struggled Without Jeff Bridges
Even though Legacy is very different from the original TRON, the two projects at least share one thing in common: Jeff Bridges. His role was severely reduced for Ares, and his absence is immediately felt. He’s been the face of this franchise since the ’80s, and it may be too late to continue without him.
TRON: Ares has some great action scenes and stunning visuals, but one of the leading complaints about this sci-fi sequel is that the characters feel very flat and one-dimensional. If TRON is going to continue, it needs a clear, relatable protagonist whom audiences can get behind and get excited about.
Unfortunately, that’s not Jared Leto. There’s been a lot of discussion about Leto potentially being miscast in Ares, and that’s going to be hugely damaging to TRON‘s future. The final moments of the movie tease a potential alliance between Ares and Quorra (from Legacy), but these characters just aren’t as compelling as Kevin Flynn.
TRON Thrives With Long Gaps Between Sequels
The fact that TRON has been around since the early ’80s and only has three movies under the franchise’s belt is very unusual. Disney clearly knows they have an interesting concept here, but they’re not taking advantage of it to make as much money as possible. Instead, they’re only making TRON movies when they feel culturally relevant.
The first TRON movie was about the tech culture of the ’80s and the rise of the internet. The second TRON movie was about the video game boom of the late 2000s. The third TRON movie is about the growing threat of artificial intelligence. These movies are only made when they have a clear social context, and that’s what’s made them so relevant over the years.
Making TRON 4 simply for the sake of continuing the franchise would break this trend and ruin the franchise’s reputation. Perhaps the sequel could work many years from now, when technology has advanced even further and inevitably birthed even more social discourse, but that can’t happen too soon.
There Is No Clear Path Forward For TRON
The ending of TRON: Ares seems to lay the groundwork for a potential sequel, but none of these subtle teases actually feel like they’re going anywhere. Sending Julian Dillinger to the Grid keeps him around for future installments, but what is he going to do there? His future seems pretty empty; bringing him back for TRON 4 would simply feel forced.
Equally, Ares himself has become a much less interesting character since acquiring the permanence code. His immortality was the most compelling thing about him, and without this, it’s hard to imagine how he could lead an entire story. These sequel teases have no clear purpose, and they clearly exist solely to keep the door open.
Disney Has More Exciting Live-Action Franchises
TRON has often been praised as one of Disney’s most popular live-action franchises, but this isn’t necessarily the case anymore. With projects like National Treasure 3, Princess Diaries 3, and Sister Act 3 all in active development, Disney is going to struggle to justify pumping so much money into TRON.
Disney also owns Marvel and Star Wars now, which aren’t going to lose their fan bases anytime soon. The studio has a responsibility to give the fans what they want, and we’re seeing much more enthusiasm for these more profitable, nostalgic franchises. It would be a huge missed opportunity to waste time and resources on TRON 4 when these other projects have such great potential.
Tron
- Created by
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Steven Lisberger
- First Film
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TRON
- Cast
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Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner, Cindy Morgan, Barnard Hughes, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Michael Sheen
- TV Show(s)
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TRON: Uprising
- Video Game(s)
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TRON: Idenтιтy, Tron: Evolution, Tron 2.0, Discs of Tron, Tron
- Character(s)
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Kevin Flynn, Alan Bradley, Ed Dillinger, Dr. Lora Baines, Dr. Walter Gibbs, Samuel Flynn, Quorra, Zuse
