‘Tron 3’ Pushes On with Jared Leto and a New Director
If there is one thing that is longer than the light barricade left by a speeding light cycle, it has to be the development period of Tron films. We are almost into the fourth decade anniversary of the first film’s release, and yet, the third film, which is rumored to be titled Tron: Ares, is still light years away from hitting the theaters.
Despite Tron (1982) being moderately successful at the box-office, and the subsequent installment, Tron: Legacy (2010) continuing its success to rake in over $400 million from theatrical runs, Disney never seems to put much emphasis to transport the audience back into the Grid. With a lengthy span of 28 years separating the first and the second film, we saw the son of original protagonist, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), taking over the lead character in Tron: Legacy. Perhaps, we might finally see Kevin’s grandson messing around with a light cycle in ‘Tron 3’?
Or maybe not. Jared Leto shared in his tweet earlier that he will star in the upcoming Tron movie, presumably in a vital role, since reports have been circulating around since 2017 that he would be involved in an upcoming Tron film. You can see for yourself what Leto’s tweet has in store for you, here:
It is believed that Leto initially revealed the working title for Tron 3 in that very same tweet; Tron: Ares. Of course, the tweet had since been deleted, and been replaced with what you can currently see above. I would take that as a digital pinch of salt, because the title of Tron 3 has been rumored to take shape in different forms across many lifetimes, from Tron: Destiny, to Tron:Ascension, and now, Tron: Ares. It could be Tron: Cybertron the moment you wake up tomorrow.
To stack things up, Deadline reported that Oscar-nominated director, Garth Davis, has been signed up to helm the upcoming Tron movie. The film will be based upon the most recent draft written by Jesse Wigutow , which, as of now, remains in development. Leto himself will co-produce the film alongside Justin Springer and Emma Ludbook, so presumably, Leto’s character, Ares (or whatever codename that they will call him), will lead the finished plot.
Judging from the age of Leto versus that of Garrett Hedlund’s (who plays Kevin Flynn’s son, Sam, in Tron: Legacy), it is logically-sound to assume that Leto would not squeeze into Tron’s timeline as Kevin’s grandson, unless the story of Tron 3 takes place in the future. Because the script is very much in an infancy state, there is no clear evidence of how it will connect itself with the earlier two films; or whether it will make any direct connection, at all. Naturally, whether Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, or even Jeff Bridges will return to tag along with Leto’s character is but anyone’s guess.
But hey, who can ever forget about those groovy beats brewed by French duo, Daft Punk, which had complemented so perfectly with the stunning visuals of the Grid in Tron: Legacy? There is still no confirmation on whether the duo will return to compose for Tron 3, but with Disney’s very own President of Music & Soundtracks, Mitchell Leib eyeing for the duo to work their magic again for the Grid, I don’t think that their paycheck will be an issue.
Originally published at https://www.thefilmaddict.com on August 11, 2020.
