The release of Tron: Ares finally brought a sequel fans of the Tron franchise have been waiting over a decade for. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be doing so well at the box office, with new reports suggesting that Tron: Ares could lose a huge amount of money for Disney.
Tron: Ares took an interesting creative route by sidestepping away from most of the narratives left hanging by 2010’s Tron: Legacy. In an effort to introduce a new character, Jared Leto starred as the movie’s titular Ares, setting up both new storylines and a potential sequel that could further revisit characters Sam Flynn and Quorra from Tron: Legacy.
If the film is losing as much money as insiders suggest, however, we may never see the sequel. In fact, according to Deadline, the film is said to have been produced for as much as $220 million, surpassing previous reports that it cost between $170-180 million. At the time of this writing, then, it’s believed that Tron: Ares could lose as much as $132.7 million.
Here’s how the outlet crunched the numbers:
“At a $160 million box office threshold Tron: Ares triggers $72.2 million in worldwide theatrical rentals, $37.6M in global home entertainment, close to a $100M in global home television, with an extra $5 million from airlines for a total of $214.8M in revenues. Put this up against the $220 million net production cost shot with Vancouver, Canada tax credits, a $102.5M global P&A spend with stunts at San Diego Comic-Con, touring light cycles, a laser light Nine Inch Nails concert at the LA premiere which closed down Hollywood Blvd, $10.8M in others costs and $14.2M in residuals which gets you to total costs of $347.5M. That gets us to a $132.7 million loss.”
One talent representative attempted to put into words why Tron: Ares is underperforming so badly at the box office:
“There was no specific vision, to be honest. The idea that Disney would spend a quarter of a billion dollars on a Jared Leto film that is a franchise that hasn’t worked in four decades is insane.”
Fortunately, there has been some positive word-of-mouth, as many fans have enjoyed Tron: Ares even if it isn’t a direct continuation of the narrative from Tron: Legacy. It’s unknown if Disney will continue the franchise in the near future, especially with these box office results, but the film’s performance could find new life on streaming and home video, proving that Tron has a market – just not blockbuster appeal.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any other potential updates on the Tron franchise as we have them. For now, Tron: Ares is still playing in theaters, though it remains to be seen for how long especially if the film continues to lose money rather than make it.