Exclusive: Tron Series In Development For Disney+
According to our trusted and proven sources, the Tron franchise is being revived for a streaming series on Disney+.
This article is more than 2 years old
Tron is one of the great cult science fiction movies of all time, a movie that somehow manages to be eternally futuristic and unmistakably the work of a far-gone vision of technology. In a time period in which all IP is being evaluated, remade, rebooted, and squeezed for all it is worth, it makes sense that Disney would come for the world of gladiatorial software battles and sentient programs eventually. According to our trusted and proven sources, a Tron series is currently in the works to join the ever-increasing roster of shows on the Disney+ platform. The Tron franchise has been dormant for nearly a decade, so a revitalization of the property on Disney+ could be a big step forward.
We do not yet have many details about what a Tron series on Disney+ could look like, but much would depend on what direction the company decides to take it in. Although the original film was essentially a standalone story (from a time period in which a movie was not automatically developed with franchise aspirations in mind), lore has developed over the decades in various media. If Disney decides to go that way, it could be a continuation of the narrative that the 2010 sequel Tron: Legacy continued, and various tie-ins filed out. On the other hand, a Tron series on Disney+ could be a chance for the company to go in a new, potentially more accessible direction for a fresh start.
The original Tron movie was released in 1982, starring Jeff Bridges, the late David Warner, Cindy Morgan, and Bruce Boxleitner as the title character. In the film, a maverick video game designed played by Bridges is physically transported inside a mainframe computer while attempting to commit corporate espionage. The computer world is manifested as a society of sentient, humanized programs (helpfully designated as good or bad by glowing colors) controlled by an authoritarian Master Control Program and its lackey (David Warner), with the MCP seeking to gain control of the real world. Also, there are cool gladiatorial battles involving glowing balls and the iconic light-speeder chases. While the film was not a huge commercial success, its special effects were considered groundbreaking and stuck in the cultural consciousness for decades.
Which leads us to the Tron series currently being developed for Disney+. It makes sense that Disney would want to find a way to use the brand recognition of the franchise, but Tron has always had a difficult time hitting it big in the mainstream. Tron: Legacy (which starred Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, and Jeff Bridges to pass the torch) followed in the original’s footsteps by being a moderate success at the box office and received mixed reviews, and is largely also considered a cult film. A Disney XD animated series titled Tron: Uprising filled in the backstory between the two films, but there is still plenty of narrative that can follow the events of Legacy. We will just have to see if Jared Leto manages to wedge himself in there somehow.
