Today in I’m Sure This Will Work Out news, Jared Leto is set to star in Tron: Ares, a threequel in the Tron franchise, following 2010’s Tron: Legacy. Leto will play a new character, Ares, and right now, it doesn’t sound like Jeff Bridges or anyone from the previous Trons will be involved in Ares. It will be directed by Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Rønning, who previously co-directed Kon Tiki and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, as well as solo directing Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. Also, this announcement is how I found out Leto is also in Haunted Mansion, and now I wonder if this is some kind of monkey paw bargain he made with Disney, like yeah, sure, I’ll be in your theme park ride movie, if you let me finally make Tron 3.
Leto has been trying to get Tron 3 off the ground for years, at least since 2017 when the existence of the new “Ares” character was confirmed. Originally, Tron 3 was supposed to be a direct sequel to Tron: Legacy, which was a modest hit back in 2010. That film starred Bridges, returning as video game designer Kevin Flynn, and Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde, both tipped as Next Big Things at the time. It was also directed by Joseph Kosinksi, whose calling card is now Top Gun: Maverick, so he’s definitely not going back to the Disney factory any time soon.
An attempt at a threequel with the 2010 crew involved blew up in 2015 after the failure of Tomorrowland put Disney off high-concept sci-fi that doesn’t star a superhero. Tron has always had something of a cursed legacy, the original 1982 film was groundbreaking for its visual effects, but it’s not a very good movie—not even Hot Young Jeff Bridges can save it. And Tron: Legacy is better than you remember, but still not THAT good. As for a sequel centered on Jared Leto, whose most recent film is the disastrously hilarious bomb Morbius and has a history of (allegedly) creepy behavior with underage girls? That’s going to go great, I’m sure.
