14 DAY TRIAL // “TRON: Legacy” came out in 2010 and was a sequel to the 1982 iconic “Tron.” In an industry where sequels come out with as little as a 1-year gap between them, Disney sure took its time with this franchise - and the slow development for the threequel, which was confirmed right after the 2010 release, is proof that it has no intention of improving on that.
If you were one of those fans hoping for the threequel to go into production this fall, as rumored, you’re in for a major disappointment: both THR and Variety confirm that Disney has pulled the plug on “Tron 3.”
No place for “Tron 3” in busy release schedule
Disney is riding the wave at the box office right now, both through Disney Pictures and subsidiaries Marvel, Pixel and Lucasfilm. They have the summer and the late winter release schedules packed, with tentpole movies coming out a rapid fire, so no wonder they can’t find the place to squeeze “Tron” in as well.
At least, that’s the explanation an unnamed studio executive has for the latter trade publication: despite reports online that Disney had greenlit the threequel, it never did so officially.
It was, however, in development and there were plans to make it happen as soon as possible. Disney also wanted to make it for less money than “Legacy,” which, though a hit, didn’t bring the studio the kind of money its other established franchises do.
“Things in the queue got ahead of it and we have such a big slate out in front of it, we started to think, ‘Where does it go?’ And it’s a pretty big investment to make if you are not even sure when you are going to release it,” the executive explains.
Looking at the release schedule through 2018, Disney bosses eventually decided that there was no room for “Tron 3,” so making it now and not being able to release it for some time was deemed the worst move possible.
Don’t lose hope just yet
The studio exec says that, just because Disney put all plans on hold for the time being doesn’t mean that “Tron 3” will never be made: it just can’t happen in the next 3 years.
Before this decision was made, hope was high that director Joseph Kosinski, who helmed “Legacy,” would be back for the threequel, and that both Olivia Wilde and Garrett Hedlund would return as leads.
Rumor had it that the film would be called “Ascension” and that it would pick up right after the events in “Legacy,” introducing Wilde’s character into the outside world. Apparently, at the time “Legacy” came out, there was already a script draft for the threequel.
The studio executive might say that there’s no reason to lose hope just yet, but the decision to freeze development for “Tron 3” sounds like Disney’s giving up on the franchise.