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TRON 3 Starring Jared Leto Is Back In Development
The third film in the TRON franchise is once again in development. TRON 3 will reportedly star Jared Leto and pick up with a continuation of the story from the first two movies. The original TRON was a 1982 sci-fi film starring Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer who is transported inside of a mainframe computer and attempts to escape with the help of programs. In the 2010 follow-up Tron: Legacy, Flynn has been missing for over 20 years. His adult son, Sam, is accidentally transported inside of the same mainframe computer, where he finds his missing father and learns Clu, an ally turned enemy, trapped him inside the machine. The film received mixed reviews, but was hailed for its visual effects and was a box office success. The sequel was successful enough to spin off into other media, including video games, comics, and an animated series on Disney XD.
There have been talks about making a third TRON film for a while. Originally called Tron: Ascension, the main cast of the Legacy was set to return for the third installment until the movie was scrapped in 2015. According to actor Garrett Hedlund (Sam), the project was abandoned due to the critical and box office bomb Tomorrowland. There were rumors that a new TRON 3 script (serving as a reboot of the series) was in development starring Jared Leto back in 2017, but Disney has confirmed nothing.
However, Disney executive Mitchell Lieb revealed that TRON 3 is now officially back in development while appearing on an episode of Light The Fuse podcast in June. According to DisInsider, Jared Leto is set to star, and the film will act as less of a reboot and more of a sequel, so it is possible the cast of Tron: Legacy could return. Lieb says there is a fantastic script behind the third film, and now is the ideal time to make the movie. "Whereas the timing wasn’t right to do it years ago, I think we feel the timing is right now. We learned a lot of lessons from that last movie," said Lieb.
It is unclear if the original script for Tron: Ascension is the script that Lieb is referring to; that script involved the virtual world of "The Grid," invading the real world. There is no director attached to the film at the moment, but Lieb says he hopes that Tron: Legacy's director Joseph Kosinski can return.
Mitchell Lieb also noted that Disney wanted electronic duo Daft Punk to return to do the soundtrack for the sequel. Movie soundtracks have been a very lucrative way to promote movies and can even elevate them to a level of prestige. One notable example is the score and accompanying album for the MCU film Black Panther, both of which were nominated for several awards. Daft Punk's score is often hailed as one of the best elements of Tron: Legacy, and having them return for TRON 3 would be a smart move by the producers.
