Tron is one of my all-time favorite franchises, and it was sad to see that Disney shelved the project after Tron: Legacy was such a big breath of fresh air. The movie might not be finished for good, just in limbo for a bit. Director Joseph Kosinski (Tron: Legacy) spoke at a Tron: Legacy screening this week, saying that the film is on hold. I’ll let him tell you:
“It’s not dead,” Kosinski said. “It’s alive, but it’s sitting there, waiting for the right time to move forward.”
He spoke with Collider about the potential sequel, giving the film the title of Tron: Ascension. The script was 8o% of the way complete. Tron 3 was to begin production eight months after it was shelved. According to Kosinski, Disney purchasing Lucasfilm and Marvel put the film on the back burner, not the under-performance of the franchise as previously assumed. With Disney having two companies worth of franchise films on its plate, there is not current room for Tron to operate. This may change after Marvel’s big team-up climax films Infinity War Parts I & II happen.
There is still not indication that it Tron will ever make it back to the big screen, but Kosinski says the plot is great:
What I’m excited about is the concept, which is an invasion movie from inside the machine coming out as opposed to one we’ve usually seen. So we hinted at that at the end of Legacy with Quorra coming out, but the idea for Ascension was a movie that was, the first act was in the real world, the second act was in the world of TRON, or multiple worlds of TRON, and the third act was totally in the real world. And I think that really opens up, blows open the concept of TRON in a way that would be thrilling to see on-screen. There’s also a really interesting character study in Quorra. A “Stranger in a Strange Land,” trying to figure out where she belongs having lived in the real world for a few years, and where does she fit in.
Kosinski goes on to talk about how characters from the Grid would act in the real world:
I don’t see them having superpowers. I don’t see them being able to shoot lasers from their eyes. Or do what I would consider to be a superhero-type movie. But in her DNA itself, her being the first digital-human hybrid, there’s something in her being that allows objects from inside the Grid to exist in the real world and makes them permanent, so that was the idea. So I think the idea is strong, it’s just a matter of the right time and the right place and the stars aligning as they have to do for movies.
It would be a nice next-step for the Tron franchise. It would give them a chance to bring the world of the Grid into the real world. Without a doubt it would make for one amazing visuals. Disney has a big slate of films. The Marvel slate, and the Wars schedule are daunting.
Tron may not have a place at the table for some time.
We may never see Tron 3. Do you think that we will ever get a Tron 3? Is the concept of bringing the Grid into the real world something that you would like to see?
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