Thanks to the relatively recent acquisitions of Lucasfilm and Marvel Studios, Disney has grown into one of the biggest, and most prolific studios in the business – if it wasn’t already. Presiding over such a massive roster of IP ensures the Mouse House is able to maintain a steady, and often successful production line, but it does result in a select handful of projects getting the short shrift.
Case in point: TRON 3. Once titled Ascension, Disney was seemingly all set to get the gang back together for another installment in the cult sci-fi series, with Joseph Kosinski, Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde all on board. Alas, the studio abruptly canned the sequel a few years ago and fans have been banging the drum in support of Kosinski’s follow-up ever since.
Let it be known that that support hasn’t fallen on deaf ears, though. Collider caught up with the writer-director recently to discuss all things TRON 3, and it would appear that the sci-fi sequel is dormant, not dead. Currently on ice over at Disney, Kosinski begins by explaining how the studio’s stacked schedule has ultimately pushed TRON 3 onto the fringes.
I guess I can say that TRON 3 is in cryogenic freeze. So, it’s there. It’s not dead. It’s alive, but it’s sitting there, waiting for the right time to move forward. I mean, you have to remember that when we made TRON: Legacy, Disney did not own Marvel. Disney did not own Lucasfilm…they own everything now. But this was before they owned everything, so from the studio point of view, they have a certain number of slots and a certain amount of money to make movies and if you can make a Star Wars spinoff or another Marvel movie, which are all doing incredibly well, a TRON movie, even though I think it would do very well, the question is: Would it do as well as one of those? That is more the reason we haven’t seen another TRON is that Disney stock is flushed with really successful properties right now. But that doesn’t mean we won’t see one at one point.
If TRON 3 were to be repackaged as a live-action TV show, would Joseph Kosinski still be interested? In short: Yes. But the filmmaker is confident that the IP as a whole still has the necessary staying power to warrant a new feature film.
It definitely doesn’t have to be on a movie screen. I don’t know if you saw the TRON ride, which opened in Shanghai and was amazing…I think the TRON franchise is alive in rides and I think there’s still interest in exploring other things like VR, but as far as the TV show, I don’t know, I think that would be tough. As you saw on screen, so much of the world has to be created digitally. You can’t just go and film a TRON movie, or at least the TRON side of it, so I don’t know. I would never say never. There’s possibly a version of that, but that’s up to Disney.
TRON isn’t a franchise that’s likely to hit the dizzying heights of Star Wars anytime soon, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Disney won’t revisit the Grid in the not-so-distant future. Assuming TRON 3 really does get off the ground, what are your hopes for the proposed threequel? Let us know in the usual place.
