It’s been well over a decade since Tron: Legacy‘s release, but the franchise’s next installment may finally be inching closer. Deadline has reported that Disney is in early negotiations with Joachim Rønning to helm Tron: Ares, the long-in-development sequel starring Jared Leto.
It’s still early days, but Deadline’s report states that the Tron sequel is assembling its crew and is considering an August start date in Vancouver. The script for Tron: Ares has been penned by Jesse Wigutow, and if Joachim Rønning signs on, it will be his fourth collaboration with the House of Mouse after Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, and the upcoming Young Woman and the Sea starring Daisy Ridley.
Of course, this isn’t the first time that the Tron sequel has been close to happening. Even before the release of Tron: Legacy, a third film was in the early stages of development. Disney later greenlit the project with Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski set to direct and Garret Hedlund and Olivia Wilde returning, but in 2015, they pulled the plug. Kosinski later suggested that Disney scrapped the sequel because of their new toys — Marvel and Star Wars. “When I made Tron: Legacy, they didn’t own Marvel; they didn’t own Star Wars,” Kosinski said. “We were the play for fantasy and science fiction. And once you’ve got those other things under your umbrella, it makes sense that you’re going to put your money into a known property and not the weird art student with black fingernails in the corner — that was Tron.“
It was previously reported that Garth Davis (Lion) would direct the Tron sequel, but now that Disney is talking with Rønning, it would seem Davis is out. Jared Leto has been attached to the project for many years, and he gave an update about the project last year. “I’m a super fan of Tron, and we are working hard on Tron with our incredible partners at Disney,” Leto said. “Just an amazing group of creative people. We’re getting closer. We’re getting closer and closer, and who knows? Something may be [coming] sooner than later.” As Tron fans have been burned before, it’s hard to get too excited about the new sequel until it’s actually shooting, but I’ll admit to being cautiously optimistic.
What are you hoping to see from Disney’s new Tron sequel?
