Tron: Ares Is Doomed To Fail And It’s Not The Movie’s Fault
Although it’s been in talks to pick up production for well over a decade, the fact that cameras actually started rolling on Tron: Ares came as a shock to many. What will be the third film in the series has been a project riddled with just as much hardship and backtracking as The Crow, which, ironically, will also soon be celebrating its more than a decade-in-the-making theatrical arrival. As for Tron: Ares, although the movie doesn’t have a supposed curse haunting it, there are plenty of other factors at play that lead audiences to believe the project is doomed from the start.
It’s Morbin’ Time!
Finding a leading star isn’t by any means the most important factor in securing a movie’s success but it certainly plays into it. When it was announced that Morbius and Suicide Squad actor, Jared Leto, would step into the leading role for the sci-fi flick, franchise followers started talking – and it wasn’t necessarily in a good way. The actor has been known for his questionable method acting skills and his over-the-top and unique personality has left many on the outskirts of his fandom, something that may prove to be risky for the success of Tron: Ares.
The First Tron Underperformed
This worry was never the case for the first film in the Tron franchise, as the original 1982 film featured a performance by the lovable Jeff Bridges from director Steven Lisberger. The production was inventive and fresh for the time, delving into the technological side of sci-fi, and honing on an – at the time – ever-growing pop culture interest, although its box office numbers weren’t quite as impressive as Disney was hoping to pull off. We’re not saying that the same ideas aren’t as exciting more than 40 years later, but we’ve certainly seen our fair share of similar stories attaching mankind to computers and technology, which will in turn up the ante on what’s being expected of the script for Tron: Ares.
Tron: Legacy Didn’t Please Fans
While Tron was – for the most part – successful, the same can’t necessarily be said for the follow-up film, 2010’s Tron: Legacy. The sheer fact that another chapter was finally being added to the story was enough to draw some viewers into cinemas and – just as we imagine can be said for Tron: Ares – seeing a production like that on a big screen is a spectacle in and of itself. Despite making money from getting butts in the seats, the overall consensus of the writing, story, and acting was that the Joseph Kosinski-helmed film just didn’t quite live up to the expectation first delivered in Tron.
Personnel Changes
Tron: Ares has gone through multiple personnel changes since it was first announced to be in development in 2010 with writers bounding in and out until Disney finally scrapped the project in 2015. Fully starting over at square one, two years later, in 2017, it was revealed that Tron: Ares was back up and running but that Legacy director, Kosinski, and its stars, Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde, wouldn’t be returning as to movie would serve as a reboot vs a sequel.
Flop Or Not, Here It Comes
As of right now, Tron: Ares is pushing forward, understanding the risk that it’s taking, and pushing the fear of being a massive flop to the side. Directed by Joachin Rønning (Maleficent: Mistress of Evil), Leto stars alongside an ensemble cast that includes Evan Peters (American Horror Story), Greta Lee (The Morning Show), Jodie Turner-Smith (After Yang), Gillian Anderson (The X Files), and more.
