‘TRON Legacy’ Producer Isn’t Giving Up On Making ‘TRON 3’ Happen
TRON Legacyhit theaters in 2010, and the fact that the movie exists at all is kind of a miracle. It came 28 years after the originalTRON, and it was a project that had been kicked around Disney for a long time. Somehow, the demand of fans led toTRON Legacyactually being made, and it took us back to the world of The Grid, albeit in a much more sleek and technologically sophisticated fashion than the early computer animation of the 1980s original allowed.
However,TRON Legacydidn’t exactly land with as big of a splash as Disney might have hoped. Sure, the moviemade over $400 million worldwide, but that was on a budget of $170 million, and that’s probably not including the marketing costs. The movie also only has a50% on Rotten Tomatoesfrom critics, and only 63% from the audience ratings. That made the likelihood of seeingTRON 3come to fruition that much more unlikely, but co-producerJustin Springerhasn’t given up hope yet.
/Film’s Peter Sciretta had the opportunity to speak with Springer while making the publicity rounds forDumbo(in theaters later this month), and the conversation eventually turned to the possibility ofTRON 3ever coming back around. (Note:DumbowriterEhren Krugeralso happened to be around for this line of questioning, but he doesn’t have any involvement with theTRONfranchise; he merely offered his perspective as an industry veteran who has franchise experience withTransformers, Scream, andThe Ring).
Justin Springer: Look, I will never stop being interested in making aTRONmovie. I love the opportunity to do it. It’s a title that never really goes away internally. There’s always people around the company who like it a whole lot. And so, we’ll see what happens. It would be great to get the opportunity to do it again. It’s interesting – what I will say is that I think it continues to be relevant both in its ideas and also just the visual iconography of it. I think people are still are interested in it and it still feels contemporary to me. So it’s just about finding the right time, right script, and the right people at the studio saying “yes.” You know, just the usual.
Ehren Kruger: All you need is for fans to demand it, just like last time.
Justin Springer: That’s right!
Indeed, it was fans who were a big part of pushingTRON Legacytowards its greenlight. However, I can’t help but wonder if those fans were part of a smaller vocal group that Disney executives paid attention to back when the crowds at Comic-Con seemed to have more influence as to what was going to be a big success. Studios have since realized that there’s not as much to be gleaned from the fandom at Comic-Con and that fiercely passionate fanbases don’t always translate to profitable properties.
But as our own Peter Sciretta pointed out during the interview, there’saTRONroller coaster being openedin various theme parks around the globe, so there has to be some sustained interest in the franchise. Springer replied, “I wish you were in charge.”
Maybe fans will just have to wait another 28 years until the nextTRONsequel comes back around, and by then we’ll all have lightcycles of our own. And we won’t be living here because the planet will be gone. Then we’ll actually be living on the grid. AndTRON 3will be about escaping into a world that’s more real. Whoa.
