Tron: Ares Set to Lose $132M+

[jerf]

Tron is a fantastically difficult franchise to write for. It is, in my opinion, the most alien franchise in Hollywood. It's unusual for alien worlds in Hollywood to have different physics, but the grid does. Its residents are not human, and while some basic connections to humans are necessary for the audience to care at all, the programs on the grid are not humans. Very different motivations, very different needs.

And now that Hollywood executives have all but open contempt for writing, I had no hopes of them writing a decent Tron film. And they didn't. Even Legacy really kind of squeaked out decent quality (if not spectacularly perfect in every way) in an era where the writing was already degrading; I recall not expecting much from that film even then and being pleasantly surprised. Now it's just hopeless to expect them to be able to write something as foreign as the deeply alien grid residents in Tron when Hollywood writers hardly seem to be able to write about anything that isn't just their own personal interpretation of some family trauma they directly experienced, or their previous night's dinner politics conversation translated to screen with some one genre or another's conventions smeared over it like a bad makeup job.

[dustingetz]

what went wrong historically that the writing got so bad these days?

[Geonode]

Tron is interesting because we want to go into the digital world. We don't want it to come to us, the whole plot of this is contrary to the fun of the original idea.

[miamibre]

Thank you so much for saying this! The moment I saw the trailer and read the premise I immediately lost faith in the product.

I am not the biggest Tron fan but I have such a soft part in my heart for the movies because the original film has such a unique take on how computers work because back then they weren't mainstream that you end up with this weird mishmash of science and fantasy that you don't see anymore. Meanwhile, the sequel had this amazing production design and the remix version of the album has a permanent spot in my workout playlist thanks to all the techno artists they brought aboard.

Shame that the execs in Disney seem to be so clueless and just keep burning hundreds of millions to make these over-budget star studded films that no one is going to watch, at least in the case of marvel it makes sense but who in the world was clamoring for Tron? You need to take creative risks and shying away from the digital world isn't it.

[cam_l]

..art imitates life.

[ceejayoz]

I don't understand how Jared Leto keeps getting starring roles.

[zitsarethecure]

It's the Stonecutters. They did it before with Steve Guttenberg.

[philipallstar]

There was a pretty painful to watch moment where he showed up to an opening night at a movie theater[0]. My favourite comment: "There are more seconds to mars than people in attendance."

[0] https://x.com/VHSDVDBLURAY4K/status/1979279709189083618

[Fricken]

We could also ask why Tron sequels keep getting made. The first one lost money and so did the second.

[madduci]

Wasn't himself the director or producer?

[overvale]

I really liked him in WeCrashed. He was the perfect kind of strange for that part.

[jncfhnb]

He basically made the role for himself. He was not casted.

[sidewndr46]

My assumption is he has the best agent in the world

[joezydeco]

I think he's done after this one.

[georgeburdell]

He’s this generation’s Nicholas Cage

[asadm]

I watched the movie in 4dx and absolutely loved it! If you are on the fence, DO NOT MISS WATCHING IT IN 3D! (they will never release it in 3d on digital). The visuals and soundtrack are amazing.

[attendant3446]

I have watched it in 3D, it's still a bad movie. Only the soundtrack was good.

[Gormo]

Is it set to actually lose $132M, or just "lose" it in the tradition of Hollywood accounting?

[Onavo]

Isn't the rule of thumb for Hollywood that you have to make at least 3x the cost of production in box office sales to break even?

[lazzurs]

I am clearly the only person that enjoyed this movie.

[alexjplant]

It was solidly OK in my opinion.

The primary beefs seem to be with the supposed plot holes and one-dimensional characters. I won't argue that this movie is perfect because it isn't but IMO the proliferation of video essays on film has turned everybody into a critic. Many now think that narrative works have to fit into a "hero's journey" template where we have to identify with extensively-developed characters just because some guy with a beard on YouTube cut together some clips from "Raiders of the Lost Ark" while ranting loudly and quickly about the Platonic form of narrative structure as executed by blockbuster 80s films. These people clearly don't understand that large swaths of narrative entertainment don't fit this mold and Tron is one such franchise. Complaining about the admittedly-cheesy MacGuffin and Jared Leto's wooden acting in this movie is tantamount to saying that there weren't enough car chases in "Pride and Prejudice". It's a feature-length music video with sci-fi themes, not a modern epic. Enjoy it for what it is.

I'll never see this movie again but I was satisfied with what my $17 bought. I'd recommend seeing it in IMAX before it goes away because the experience won't translate at home.

[tanaros]

I enjoyed it!

Admittedly, I went in with extremely low expectations. It was fun, though, and I liked the visuals and the music. The plot was … something.

[anonymars]

I didn't mind it in isolation, but it really didn't respect Tron Legacy.

And it was completely unambitious in exploring the implications of AI coming to life and existing in the real world, their experiences, etc.

Which very much could have happened had they followed up on Tron Legacy

I guess I'd sum it up as a coherent, but forgettable spectacle

[prettyblocks]

I liked it too. It was full of tropes in a cute way that I enjoy from contemporary sci-fi, and it was pretty sick to go see in Dolby with the haptic seats.

[CoastalCoder]

I didn't hate the movie. It just didn't really excite me.

Maybe I'm just old enough that all of the plot points and action sequences were familiar from other films.

[haunter]

Nothing wrong with liking mediocre/bad films

But I'm not sure what did people expect really. The previous two Trons films were bang average 5-6/10 (and I say 6 would be very generous). Yes they might have a cult following and good soundtracks but as a film all together they are entirely forgettable.

[atum47]

I was visiting my old university town when I noticed they have a movie theater now. I went in cause I wanted to support it and the only session at the time was tron. I left as soon as my pop corn bucket was empty. What a mess!

[angmarsbane]

We saw it but only because our theater has discount movie tickets on Tuesdays, it's our cheap weekly date within walking distance. We were satisfied watching it for $8/per ticket. At that cost per ticket we don't mind taking a chance on a movie with mixed or poor reviews, and we don't mind seeing a movie outside of our core genres.

[squigz]

Well that's because they didn't have Daft Punk making a banger soundtrack

[taylodl]

James Kahn's novelization is orders of magnitude better (original Tron). His novelization of Poltergeist is also excellent.

[kbli]

Kahn didn't do a Tron novel, although I wish he had! I think you mean Brian Daley?

[mylons]

they’ll easily make this up at the parks at the new tron ares ride

[r_lee]

Sounds like a tremendous success to me?

[cadamsdotcom]

Today's news:

Disney to stop charging money for Tron Ares forever. Thus creating a completely permanent immutable $132m loss which will definitely never change for ever and ever.

It's a hit piece people

[mondainx]

I hate to see this, I like Leto, but he clearly can't carry a movie.

[dragonwriter]

I don't particularly like Leto, but I think the bigger issue here is that its insane to have put a quarter billion in production and a hundred million into promotion of a Tron movie given the history of the franchise.

[jncfhnb]

I think he’s a creep and the only flaw of the Bladerunner sequel

[bronlund]

Imagine that.