A 2022 blockbuster has knocked Tron: Ares off the #1 spot of the Disney+ global top 10 list. Notably, Tron: Ares debuted on the streaming platform following a disappointing run at the box office, but found considerable success on the streaming service, topping the charts.
Avatar 2 takes top spot ahead of Fire and Ash’s Disney+ debut
Avatar: The Way of Water is the current leader on the global list of Top 10 movies on Disney+, according to FlixPatrol. The film has a popularity score of 260. The Way of Water’s sudden spike in popularity comes as expectations build around Avatar 3’s potential streaming debut in the coming months.
Meanwhile, Tron: Ares currently occupies the second position on the chart, with a popularity score of 246. Some of the other entries on the list are The Muppet Show revival (237), The Devil Wears Prada (237), Despicable Me (186), Up (146), The Princess and the Frog (143), Inside Out 2 (141), Avatar (122), and Avengers: Endgame (114). While the data from Flixpatrol isn’t complete, it does offer a broader picture.
Avatar: The Way of Water is the second entry in James Cameron’s Avatar film franchise. A direct sequel to 2009’s Avatar, the movie quickly became one of the highest-grossing films of all time, earning over $2.3 billion at the global box office. It presently has a 76% score from critics on the review-aggregating site Rotten Tomatoes after 455 reviews.
Tyler Treese of ComingSoon wrote in his review, “Avatar: The Way of Water is the one film you truly must see in theaters this year. It’s remarkable getting to see a master of the craft still doing what only he can do, which is blending this level of spectacle with heart and technical marvel.”
Cameron wrote the screenplay for Avatar: The Way of Water with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, based on a story the trio developed with Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno. The film’s cast includes Sam Worthington as Jake Sully, Zoe Saldaña as Neytiri, Sigourney Weaver as Kiri, Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch, Kate Winslet as Ronal, and Cliff Curtis as Tonowari.
Disney announced Tuesday that director Joachim Rønning’s sci-fi feature is set to begin streaming Jan. 7 on Disney+. The latest installment in the Tron franchise hit theaters Oct. 10 and stars Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, Gillian Anderson and Jeff Bridges.
Tron: Ares centers on an advanced program known as Ares (Leto) getting sent from the digital Grid into the real world, marking mankind’s first interaction with AI.
The film is the latest offering on the streaming service to be available in IMAX Enhanced, featuring the expanded aspect ratio associated with IMAX programming.
Bridges originated his role as software engineer Kevin Flynn in filmmaker Steven Lisberger’s original 1982 movie Tron and reprised it in director Joseph Kosinski’s 2010 sequel Tron: Legacy that also starred Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde. Both previous movies are currently streaming on Disney+.
In his review of Tron: Ares for The Hollywood Reporter, chief film critic David Rooney wrote that the core story elements were “familiar from countless movies.”
He added, “But a refreshingly subdued performance from Jared Leto as the eponymous program, Ares, supplies an emotional hook and even an occasional touch of humor, something missing from the earlier films. Leto is also well-paired with Greta Lee as Eve Kim, CEO of ENCOM, the tech corporation at the center of the series since the start.”
Didn’t watch Tron: Ares in theaters last month? Well, count yourself among a lot of people, considering that the film turned out to be one of Disney’s biggest box office flops in a while. But there’s good(?) news: if you were simply waiting long enough to be disinterested in watching the latest (and potentially final, for a very long while) Tron movie at home, the time is nigh.
This morning Disney confirmed that Tron: Ares would begin its home release next week, with a digital release set for the first week of December, followed by a physical release in early January 2026.
As well as the film itself, the home releases will come with a raft of behind-the-scenes bonus content, including featurettes about the history of Tron, developing the film’s lightcycle sequences, and one that is described as a “personal journey with Jared Leto” looking at Ares‘ creation, fitting given that Leto played a hugely significant role in reviving Tron after a planned sequel to Tron: Legacy stalled out at Disney. Whether that was ultimately for better or worse? Still kinda TBD.
Beyond the featurettes, the home releases will include a trio of deleted scenes from the film, including one simply credited as “Lisberger Cameo”—indicating that original Tron writer and director Steven Lisberger was going to make a cameo in the film at some point. Lisberger did make a brief appearance in Tron: Legacy as Shaddix, one of the bartenders at the End of the Line Club, so it’s a shame his continuation of that legacy, for want of a better word, didn’t continue in the theatrical cut of Ares. At least it’ll live on as a deleted scene!
Here’s the full list of bonus features:
Deleted Scenes: – Seth’s Date – Burning Man – Lisberger Cameo
Featurettes: – The Journey To Tron: Ares: Go on a personal journey with Jared Leto, director Joachim Rønning and other cast and crew members for an in-depth making-of look showcasing the stunning visuals, incredible stunts, cool (but heavy) costumes, and next-level sets of Tron: Ares. – Lightcycles On The Loose: Join director Joachim Rønning as he peels back the layers of one of the most action-packed sequences in the film. Discover what ILM and the artists who grew up loving the franchise contributed, and what other iconic film the sequence pays homage to. – The Artistry Of Tron: Ares: Director Joachim Rønning and actor-producer Jared Leto sit down to discuss their journey creating Tron: Ares. The pair unpack key moments and the striking visual, sonic and artistic philosophies that drive the storytelling both in and out of the Grid. – Cast Conversations: Join the cast in candid conversations as they reflect on stepping into character, memorable on-set experiences, funny anecdotes and personal insights. Get a glimpse of the off-screen camaraderie that shines in their electric on-screen synergy. – The Legacy Of Tron: Decades after Tron first took the world by storm, and with Tron: Legacy in between, there’s loads of nostalgia to mine for Tron: Ares. Catch some clever easter eggs and noteworthy cameos as this enduring franchise continues to leave its mark.
Tron: Ares releases digitally on December 2, with a Blu-ray and DVD release set for January 6, 2026.
Deadline has a fascinating article about those numbers in regard to Disney’s latest release and the news is not good. According to the trade, while the film’s initial budget was in the $170-$180 million range, the number was actually closer to $220 million all in, and with the box office just having eeked past $100 million, the film is likely to lose about $132.7 million.
How does Deadline get to that number? Here’s the trade’s math, but be aware, it’s very confusing, as we said.
Deadline surmises that the film will end up at about $160 million worldwide in the coming weeks. That’s just an estimate. But, if it hits that, Disney will get “$72.2 million in worldwide theatrical rentals, $37.6M in global home entertainment, close to $100M in global home television, with an extra $5 million from airlines for a total of $214.8M in revenues.”
But that number then has to go up against the film’s costs, which, on Tron: Ares, were significant: “$220 million net production cost shot with Vancouver, BC 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 laser-light concert at the Los Angeles premiere that closed down Hollywood Boulevard, $10.8M in other costs, and $14.2M in residuals,” according to the trade. That means everything in regard to the film costs $347.5 million but is likely to only make $214.8 million in profit. $347.5 million minus 214.8 million is 132.7 million.
Now are all those numbers exactly right? Maybe not, but certainly, they’re close. Plus, the revenue could end up more, or (more likely) less, than the $160 million Deadline is using. All of which is to say, yeah, Tron: Ares is very unlikely to turn a profit for the studio and is very likely to put an end to the franchise. At least for now.
Because, as the Deadline article also points out, while this film had many, many things going against it, including an overreliance on the Tron IP, it’s still a known IP. It’s got theme park rides, merchandise, and films that people will watch as they find a life beyond the theater. It took 30 years for Tron to get Tron: Legacy and then another 15 for Legacy to get Ares. Tron is probably dead, but with the right story, anything is possible. Just a little less so if you lose $132.7 million.
Within a few minutes of meeting Arturo Castro, you can immediately tell why he’s had such a prolific career in comedy. Oddly enough, my first impression of him was for his poignant dramatic work on the under-appreciated Apple TV series, Mr. Corman, but it was comedy that opened the door to Tron: Ares in particular.
Tron: Ares’ production was waylaid by the SAG-AFTRA strike in the middle of 2023, and by the time it was finally able to launch in early 2024, post-strike schedules had shifted to such a point where certain roles needed recasting, including that of Seth Flores. He’s the playful right hand to Greta Lee’s Eve Kim, who now leads ENCOM, the tech company that was once run by Jeff Bridges’ franchise linchpin, Kevin Flynn. Fortunately for Castro, someone at the top of the Hollywood food chain was looking out for him.
Hot off the press at the time, the trailer for the Jake Gyllenhaal-led Road Housereboot happened to include Castro’s candid biker gang character, Moe. His comic relief popped to such a degree that Gyllenhaal’s WME agent, Brent Morley, recommended him to his other client, Jared Leto, who serves as Tron: Ares’ title character and producer. From there, Leto threw Castro’s name into the mix for Seth and advocated for him until director Joachim Rønning and the rest of the Tron threequel’s brain trust officially cast him.
But it all started with Morley’s recommendation, and knowing that he’s an agency power player who’s day-to-day is concerned with the likes of Gyllenhaal, Keanu Reeves, Matthew McConaughey, Cailee Spaeny and Oscar Isaac, Castro is grateful for the unexpected recognition.
“[Morley] went to Jared and said, ‘Check out this trailer for Road House. I think you guys will want to see this guy.’ And it meant the world to me for various reasons. He had nothing to gain from it, honestly. I was already at William Morris, and he’s not my agent,” Castro tells The Hollywood Reporter. “But he saw somebody that worked really hard to make an impression on Road House, and he thought it was worth giving me a shot.”
The Guatemalan actor’s improvisational skills have served him well over the years, especially on his 25 episodes of Broad City. The funniest joke in Tron: Ares also originated from his off-the-cuff instincts. In an effort to give Ares (Leto’s “program” character) a more permanent and benevolent place in the real world, Eve (Lee) and Seth (Castro) need to find a code on one of Flynn’s archaic servers. So they access ENCOM’s museum-like setup of Flynn’s old-school office, and Ares quickly takes note of Flynn’s first-generation computer, which Seth refers to as a “piece of garbage.” But upon noticing that Ares doesn’t appreciate the crack, he, through Catro’s improv, adds, “That was super insensitive to your ancestors, and I’m so sorry.”
“I just couldn’t believe that line made it into the movie. Greta Lee told me ahead of time. She saw it before I did, and I was so stoked,” Castro says.
Castro is bursting at the seams with excitement over his upcoming slate, as well as his fast-approaching nuptials. He proposed to filmmaker Lauren Hoover while shooting the latest Mattel toy-based film, Matchbox, from Extraction director, Sam Hargrave. He also has a role in A Place in Hell, Chloe Domont’s next prestige thriller opposite Daisy Edgar-Jones and Michelle Williams.
“I got to have scenes with Daisy Edgar-Jones and Michelle Williams at the same time. It was an out-of-body experience, and I was like, ‘Oh, shit. I should say my line now.’ I got caught up in watching these people,” Castro admits. “These five [most recent] projects, starting with Tron, were all amazing experiences in a variety of genres, and I just can’t believe that it’s happening to me, man. I feel like my chest is going to explode from gratitude.”
Below, during a recent conversation with THR, Castro also looks back at his time on the sets of The Menu, Narcos and Mr. Corman, before previewing the rest of his upcoming work.
***
Considering the two shutdowns in the last five years, you’ve still managed to do a ton of work in that time. I counted at least 35 credits since 2020.
Whoa, that’s crazy. I think people are confusing me with George Lopez and giving me his roles, so thank you, Mr. Lopez. (Laughs.) It’s funny, because, for a long time, all I wanted to do was get back to 2019’s rhythm of work. And in hoping for that, I failed to realize that, even though my life and career are different than they were in 2019, they’re much better in some ways. I got really lucky that The Menu was the first thing I did after the pandemic, and the first thing I did after the strike was Tron: Ares. I don’t want to get too woo-woo about it, but I switched my mindset. Instead of thinking that work is consistent, I’ve realized what a one-in-a-million chance it is to have this job. So I’ve started leading with a lot of gratitude, and that more positive outlook has changed my career.
You’re among a select few working actors who began their life in Guatemala. Are you always conscious of what your example means to young dreamers back home?
I do my best to keep that in mind. When I first moved to the States, I wanted to assimilate so hard that you separate yourself from where you come from a little bit. I just wanted to be seen as an actor regardless of where I was born or what I look like. And maybe five years into my journey in New York, I met a group of Guatemalans that were a hundred percent Guatemalans and a hundred percent New Yorkers. I didn’t know you could be both, and that changed my life. That made me realize that where I come from could be my superpower. Nobody grew up climbing volcanoes like I did while living in the magical realism of Latin America. I then really started to feel that Guatemalan pride, and as I got older, I sort of became the older brother figure to some of these actors who were starting off in Guatemala. So I am so conscious of the choices I make and how I speak about us and what I want for the future, and it’s because of them.
Arturo Castro as Seth Flores and Greta Lee as Eve Kim in Tron: Ares.
Leah Gallo/Disney
The aforementioned strike put Tron: Ares in a very precarious spot, but production was finally able to start in early 2024. You weren’t a part of the pre-strike cast?
Yeah, that’s another one of those moments of extreme gratitude. They already had the cast, and I was able to join because of scheduling conflicts after the strikes. I’d done RoadHouse already, and Jared Leto and Jake Gyllenhaal share an agent, Brent Morley. So he went to Jared and said, “Check out this trailer for Road House. I think you guys will want to see this guy.” And it meant the world to me for various reasons. He had nothing to gain from it, honestly. I was already at William Morris, and he’s not my agent. But he saw somebody that worked really hard to make an impression on Road House, and he thought it was worth giving me a shot. So that’s what kicked off the real gratitude moment of me entering Tron and feeling like it was serendipitous.
I treated every day on set as if it was the greatest possible gift. Pre-pandemic and pre-strike, I know that my attitude would have been like, “Well, this is cool. Great set. Anyway, let’s move on.” But with Tron, I was just like, “Man, screw it. Who is going to care if I’m really excited? This is incredible. I can’t believe you built this set. How did you do this?” I felt like a 1920s newsboy. I was like, “We’re in Tron, everybody! Have you heard!? We’re in Tron!” And they’re like, “Yeah, we heard. We hired you.” (Laughs.) So the serendipity of that moment added to my level of gratitude to be on the project.
Have you worked with many method actors over the years? Or was Jared the exception?
I’ve worked with at least a couple over the years, and from the first one, I realized that I had misconceptions about what it was. I thought that you had to subscribe to their process in a way, and I realized, as far as Jared is concerned, that he’s not imposing his process on you. He decides to stay in character and be referred to as his character, and it’s just part of his process in a very non-intrusive way. So I’ve found that, more often than not, there’s nothing different about working with method actors than anybody else who takes their job seriously. So I admire that, and while it’s not my process, I always find it fun to see how it manifests.
Greta Lee, Jared Leto and Arturo Castro in Tron: Ares.
Leah Gallo/Disney
The best joke in the movie is when you, as Seth, apologize to Ares (Leto) for the comment about his “ancestors.”
That might’ve been my only improv line that I managed to get in there. The script was so good and so tight. But I just couldn’t believe that line made it into the movie. Greta Lee told me ahead of time. She saw it before I did, and I was so stoked.
You have a sequence set inside an office museum of sorts for Jeff Bridges’ character, Kevin Flynn. Did you ever cross paths with Jeff at all off set?
Yeah, I just went to meet him because he’s The Dude. I’ve admired his work for so long. Jeff always seems like he’s just got done with the most satisfying swim in the ocean. Or it’s like he’s just descended from a hammock. He has this wonderful, relaxed energy that is so different from my bouncing-off-the-wall energy. The guy that gave me my first break was Ben Gazzara, and he played Jackie Treehorn in The Big Lebowski. So I was so looking forward to meeting him to share stories about Ben.
Did the original Tron movie ever reach you in Guatemala?
It obviously came out before my time, but I’m a huge arcade geek, man. I’ve been a gamer my entire life, so Tron has been in my periphery my entire life. So I might’ve been nine or ten years old when I first watched it, and I thought it was so cool.
I then got to work with Garrett Hedlund on an Ang Lee movie [Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk], and he told me about [his time on] Tron: Legacy. I am also a huge Daft Punk fan. So I have always been so impressed and stoked about this world. My imagination has always been so overactive, and I get so immersed in this visceral, vivid world. So I couldn’t believe that I got to be in this new one.
I didn’t know anybody when I moved here from Guatemala. My English was good, but I had a thick accent. And the only thing that kept me going for many years was this feeling that moments like this existed. So being at the premiere with my fiancée and my mom was the physical manifestation of those dreams coming true. It’s really surreal, man.
If Disney couldn’t coax Daft Punk out of retirement, then Nine Inch Nails is quite literally the next best option. When in the process did you find out they were scoring the film?
I believe it was halfway through filming. [Producer] Justin Springer told me about it, and I freaked out. I’m such a fan of Nine Inch Nails as a band and also of [Trent] Reznor and [Atticus] Ross’ scoring since The Social Network. So it was one of those moments where you’re at crafty and you’re already shooting the movie of your dreams, and then somebody comes to tell you that the Tooth Fairy does exist.
Arturo Castro as Seth Flores and Greta Lee as Eve Kim in Tron: Ares
Leah Gallo/Disney
Tron: Ares is about the upside and downside of AI, so do you think our present-day civilization can wield this tool responsibly?
I think technology is neither bad nor good; it’s just the way you use it. I did a couple episodes of Silicon Valley, and those guys told me some stories. They said that these guys from the actual place would come up to them and be like, “Oh my God, I just created this crazy facial recognition software that can see you from anywhere.” And when they would then ask, “Okay, but what if it’s used for nefarious purposes?” they could apparently see in their faces that it never occurred to them.
So there’s a risk in assuming that there’s somebody guarding the gates and that the technology will only go so far. I keep hearing, “Well, they’ll never let that happen,” but I’m like, “Who’s they?” It’s up to us as moral or, at least, thoughtful beings to keep in mind that this technology needs safeguards. It could be used to bring benefits and advance fields like medicine, but we need to assume that people will use it irresponsibly. Otherwise, I just don’t see it ever ending in a positive way for humankind when we’re building it at such a breakneck speed.
Besides Tron, the reason why I wanted to do this interview is because of Joe Gordon Levitt’s show, Mr. Corman. I really liked your character on that show as well as your showcase episode. Was that a meaningful experience despite being just one season?
Oh, it was the most meaningful experience. That show took me out of the pandemic. We started shooting it in L.A. before the shutdown, and then Joe called me one day and was like, “Hey, we can keep shooting this in New Zealand.” I got to play a three-dimensional character in Victor Morales on this really well-written show opposite this really wonderful human being in Joe. I also got to take a break from the year-long stress of the pandemic by being in such a beautiful place like New Zealand. One of the first things I did after quarantine was go to a concert with 35,000 people, and while it’s hard to grasp what that means now, it was like stepping into a different world at the time.
So that role will always, always mean something to me. There’s obviously a pain that comes with the fact that it didn’t get more eyes on it, but God, I’ve learned to release the result as an actor and as an artist. What I take with me are the memories and the lessons, and that was a pivotal one for me. So thank you for watching it, man. I’m always stoked when I meet somebody that watched Mr. Corman. Honestly, it means the world to me.
Before you were turned into a human s’more, how much investigation was there into what Ralph Fiennes whispered in Nick Hoult’s ear on the set of The Menu?[Writer’s Note: Castro played one of the bread-obsessed tech bros.]
Oh, man. I was very curious, but Nick never told any of us what Ralph whispered. Apparently, it was different every time. The beauty about that movie was that even on the days you didn’t have lines, you were still in the restaurant. So I got a front row seat to watch Ralph and John Leguizamo and Nick and all these incredible actors do their thing. There’s a part where John’s character stands up to try to defend us all [to Ralph’s character], and it goes horribly wrong. So they did a couple takes, and then they started improvising at each other two feet away from me. If you had told me during acting school back in 2006 that I was going to get the chance to watch these two guys go at it, I wouldn’t have believed you.
Arturo Castro and Hong Chau in The Menu
Searchlight Pictures
I’ve seen every Narcos series there is to see. Those shows dramatized real events, certainly, but they also strived for authenticity when possible by filming at some of the real-life locations. Was it ever eerie to know that you were retracing the steps of such harrowing events?
Hugely. We filmed at this mansion that we thought was standing in for Pacho Herrera’s mansion, and the director was like, “Yeah, this is his actual mansion. The government confiscated it, and we’re renting it to shoot in it.” That put us right there in terms of authenticity.
There’s a piece of my innocence that I’ll never get back from researching people in the Cali Cartel. I would watch footage of sicarios saying that they killed somebody, and they would say it with the same ease as if they told you that they took a shower. But if the audience gives you their time and their money to watch you in a theater or through a streaming subscription, the least that you owe them is to leave a little blood in the water. So I’m okay with a little piece of my innocence never coming back to me because I got to share this cautionary tale.
I didn’t see Narcos as glorifying drug dealing. Being a Latino, that was the moral question I had for myself. And, to me, by showing these people as they were, it takes away the luster. None of them wind up well. Everybody winds up dead or in jail or somehow worse. So it was definitely harrowing at times, but that shoot was also one of the best experiences of my life. I got to speak Spanish for the first time in so long, and the entire cast was very fatherly towards me for eight months in Colombia. I lost my father when I was 17, and to spend time with these older Latino male father figures who were also into art and acting and the beauty of theater, it was incredibly meaningful to me.
I do love that your take on Pablo Escobar in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story gave you a completely opposite tonal companion.
(Laughs.) I love parodying that culture. In the same way that Narcos’ cautionary tale took away the luster, parodying it also takes away any luster from it. I’ve been a huge fan of Weird Al Yankovic my entire life. But, God, to be able to play a Pablo Escobar who was just petty and wanted friends, there was something so stupid and so hilarious about that to me. So I jumped at the chance, and it premiered at TIFF within two days of The Menu. You can imagine what that experience was like for me.
The trailer you referenced earlier features it, but I think the best scene in Road House is that opening slapping fight. Was Doug Liman as advertised?
Man, it was so cool once I learned the language of his shooting style. He doesn’t use a shot list. He’s really a genius. He just picks the shot [on the day] and knows exactly what he wants. He also cares so much about what’s happening in the background. That’s how authentic he is. But I was very lucky in the sense that they wrote me into another scene after the table read.
By the time I got to set, I just felt from Doug that I was able to improv or add as much or as little as I wanted. I thought it was going to be a more color-within-the-lines set, and I wasn’t expecting to have that freedom. It was then fun to see that the character really resonated. I love being a character that’s the audience’s perspective and has to answer questions honestly no matter what you ask him. I love being a character who has really petty needs in a heightened situation. So I’m really lucky that Doug let me run away with a character who just wanted to join a motorcycle club.
When I premiered The Menu and Weird at TIFF, I was shooting Road House, so I got to go back to the Dominican Republic afterwards. That was an awesome couple of months.
You’ve got some cool work coming up with Sam Hargrave’s Matchbox, Chloe Domont’s A Place in Hell and BenDavid Grabinski’s Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice. How would you sum up those experiences?
Man, Matchbox is incredibly close to my heart. I got engaged during that shoot.
Congrats.
Thank you. The Matchbox cast and I were rehearsing in Budapest for one of the scenes. We were all on the floor of a carpeted office, and we were pretending to be in this massive vehicle during a precarious situation. And Jessica Biel turned to all of us and said, “Can you guys believe that this is our job? Can you believe that we do this for a living?” And I was like, “You’ve been doing this as long as you have, and you still have that wonder?” So that’s the type of people I want to be with on set. Everybody on Matchbox was really alley-ooping each other for the best line and the best punchline.
With Chloe Domont, I never thought I’d be in such a cool prestige project so soon. As dramatic and intense as [A Place in Hell] is, it also has a lot of humor. The way she’s able to weave genres was something I’ve never seen before. And talk about having a front row seat, I got to have scenes with Daisy Edgar-Jones and Michelle Williams at the same time. It was an out-of-body experience, and I was like, “Oh, shit. I should say my line now.” I got caught up in watching these people.
BenDavid Grabinski has also become a great friend, and his movie, Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice was honestly one of the funniest scripts I’ve ever read. It’s the same with El Tigre and Tom Segura. Tom is one of the most genuine, caring human beings I’ve ever met, and he’s also incredibly hilarious.
So I know that I keep saying this and that it sounds cliché, but it’s not a canned answer. These five projects, starting with Tron, were all amazing experiences in a variety of genres, and I just can’t believe that it’s happening to me, man. I feel like my chest is going to explode from gratitude. It makes me emotional, honestly.
What’s the most impactful note you’ve received from a director?
Ang Lee once said, “Arturo, less love, more volume.”
What do you think he meant by that?
I still don’t know to this day. (Laughs.) God, I remember another note, but I forget who it was that told me this. I tend to associate being natural with very free body movement, and my center of gravity is kind of bouncy. So it might’ve been in theater, but a director was like, “What if you allowed your body to be still? See where that energy transfers to once you’re not letting it go with all this movement.”
And what I realized is that for characters who are really passionate about what they’re saying, it gives you such power to not give that energy away, physically. You just plant yourself and speak your truth in the moment. So that director’s note changed my life, and it changed the way I approach acting. Whether it’s a comedy or a drama, I ask myself, “Where is this character’s power coming from?”
Out of all the philosophical notes I’ve ever received, I love that this one is a very practical, physical thing that I can hold onto when I’m trying not to get too caught up in the weeds of the why and the obstacle. So that note that a director gave me about my physicality really changed the game for me.
The podcast market is so saturated that it’s wise to do something niche, and your podcast, Greatest Escapes, is certainly that. Is it coming back at a certain point?
Yes, I’m elated that we just got nominated for a Signal Award [Most Innovative Audio Experience]. FilmNation came to me and asked, “Would you ever consider exploring this space?” And I just love history. I love little moments in history that affect bigger moments down the line. One such example is how cheap bananas almost ended the world. So I jumped at the chance to tell my friends about these types of moments on a podcast. We’re coming back with even more exciting guests, and we’re going to look at the stupidity throughout history. There will hopefully be some good lessons on how not to repeat it.
*** Tron: Ares is now playing in movie theaters nationwide.
There he stood, in a red raincoat draped dramatically over a white suit, perched 30 feet above Piccadilly Circus for the Oct. 1 London premiere of Tron: Ares. What was Jared Leto doing up there, greeting his public like some interstellar overlord?
Drumming up excitement for his latest blockbuster release, of course. The stunt was straight out of the Leto playbook — involving bombast, tall buildings and shoulder-length hair jostled by the elements — but didn’t succeed at its primary mission: driving audiences to theaters.
Like a Light Cycle slamming into a Jetwall, Tron: Ares was savagely derezzed at the box office this weekend, bringing in at least $10 million less than its projected opening gross. The Disney sci-fi tentpole pulled in a dismal $33.2 million from 4,000 theaters against a net production budget of at least $180 million. Overseas, the sci-epic also failed to connect, grossing $27 million for a global start of $60.2 million. Some at Disney were always concerned only die-hard fans would show up, which isn’t a Leto issue but an IP problem. They were right; 18- to 24-year-old males, the sweet spot, badly underindexed. Combined with a bland B+ CinemaScore, sources say Tron will likely retire from the big screen.
Leto appreciates spectacle. How else would you describe an actor who scales the Empire State Building, climbing from the 86th floor observatory to the 104th floor, all to promote his band 30 Seconds to Mars? Why? “Ever since I was a kid, I was fascinated with the Empire State Building,” Leto told Jimmy Fallon.
But stunts might not be enough to distract from a spate of negative headlines after Air Mail collected nine allegations from women who described disturbing conduct, ranging from flirtatious overtures when they were minors to episodes of exposure. His representatives denied everything. But alarmed Disney executives had no idea whether other accusations might emerge.
It didn’t happen, and Leto embarked on a global promo tour. He was the face of the Ares: Tron campaign and was a consummate professional throughout, studio insiders say. Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter he earned high seven figures for the role, plus a seven-figure producing fee.
He next stars in MGM/Mattel’s Masters of the Universe as He-Man’s high-pitched antagonist Skeletor. It could be a good career move — embodying the iconic, skull-faced fantasy villain who walks a line between genuine menace and camp.
Yet likely over are the days where Leto could, through sheer willpower and in-the-room charisma, push through a greenlight as he did with Tron. Ares originally was conceived as a straightforward follow-up to 2010’s Tron: Legacy, itself a modest success, having grossed $400 million worldwide against a $170 million net production budget. “The first iteration of the [Ares] script was a different movie, but it had a character named Ares,” screenwriter Jesse Wigutow toldPolygon for an Oct. 11 story.
The version ultimately was shelved by Disney. But Leto wouldn’t give up. It didn’t hurt that he had a powerful ally in his corner — Sean Bailey, who was hired to run Disney’s live-action studio in 2010 by former Disney topper Rich Ross after he produced Tron: Legacy. And he also had goodwill from his lauded earlier dramatic work in Dallas Buyers Club (winning him a supporting actor Oscar) and Requiem for a Dream. The pitch worked, and by 2017, Leto was elevated to producer, and the movie’s narrative was reframed so that the protagonist became Ares, his character. Leto not only got his Tron movie — he was now the star. (Bailey, the movie’s chief proponent within the studio, was shown the door last year, but has a producing deal at Disney.)
But now the kinds of hefty paydays Leto earned for Ares could be in the past, as an agency partner says that studios already had stepped away from the actor as a leading-man choice after the failure of Sony’s Spider-Man universe spinoff Morbius, which opened to $39 million stateside en route to a not-good $167 million globally in 2022. “In a world where Michael Fassbender, Ewan McGregor and Benedict Cumberbatch are having a hard time getting lead roles, why would you even go to a person who can’t open a movie and who has question marks around him as a person?” asks one top talent manager partner.
With Ares flopping, the insider says Leto’s currency in town has run colder than Morbius’ vampire blood. To be clear, the flameout of Tron isn’t Leto’s burden alone. “You could have had Ryan Gosling, it wasn’t going to work,” says the first agency partner. “No one asked for this reboot. If you say, ‘Tron: Ares is good, we just needed a different actor,’ you’re deluding yourself.”
This story first appeared in the Oct. 15 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
Tron: Ares ends with a couple of big questions about what could come next on the Grid and beyond. Unfortunately, the biggest of those after opening weekend is whether any of them will ever get answered. The film experienced a tepid opening, failing to outgross its 2010 predecessor, meaning the world of Tron may be officially dead. And yet it took almost three decades for a second Tron to come out and almost another two for the third one. Over the years, the franchise has shown an incredible ability to reboot, so let’s do that too.
Below are 12 questions and some attempts at answers we have after seeing Tron: Ares. Major spoilers follow.
Image: Disney
What does Ares want with Quorra?
Tron: Ares ends with Ares (Jared Leto), now able to exist permanently in the real world, looking for the Iso named Quorra (Olivia Wilde), the digital being Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) moved off the Grid at the end of Tron: Legacy. That Ares, created by Dillinger Corp., would want to find Quorra, created naturally in the Grid, makes sense. He certainly has a lot of questions she could potentially answer. But what does he think will happen beyond that? Is there a method to his madness? And also…
What have Sam and Quorra been up to?
While Tron: Legacy ended with some big questions about what it meant for a digital being to now exist in the real world, Tron: Ares largely pushes those events to the side. We learn that Sam Flynn did take over Encom for a while before leaving for personal reasons. And, we see that there were at least discussions or rumors about Quorra in the press. But what have they been up to in the 15 years since that film? What did Sam do at Encom when he was there? We don’t know.
Why did Sam Flynn leave Encom?
An offshoot of the last question is the specific nature of Sam’s leaving Encom. Did he have a new project planned with Quorra? Did he reconnect with a digital version of his father? You almost get the sense that whatever story is happening with Sam and Quorra off-screen is just, kind of, whatever that original version of Tron 3, Tron: Ascension, may have been. Speaking of…
Could Tron 4 use elements of Tron: Ascension?
Last week, we spoke to Tron: Ares writer Jesse Wigutow, who also worked extensively on Tron: Ascension before it was shelved. Since Tron: Ascension focused on Sam and Quorra’s journey and presumably was a pretty good script after years of development, we asked about that. “That’s a great question,” he said. “I don’t know that I have thought about it quite in that way, other than the fact that Ascension…. I don’t know, is the answer. We’ll find out if there’s an opportunity or a conversation around doing another one of these at one point. It’s kind of above my pay grade. But I do think it’s an exciting idea anyway, potentially, that Ares and Quorra find each other.”
Evan Peters as Julian Dillinger in Tron: Ares – Disney
What is happening with Julian Dillinger?
To avoid prosecution and almost certainly prison time, at the end of Tron: Ares, Julian Dillinger sends himself to the Grid. There, we see that he sort of starts to become Sark, the digital double of his grandfather, Ed Dillinger Sr., from the original film. How is that happening? Why is that happening? And if Julian does become Sark and works to gain control of the Dillinger Grid, what kind of damage will he do? We, of course, can’t answer any of those, but they’re fun to think about.
Where the hell is Tron?
One major character that’s not a part of Tron: Ares is Tron himself, the original hero program from the first film. We asked Wigutow about his absence from the movie. “I think there was a conversation at one point [about bringing him back],” Wigutow said. “At a certain point in the development, it just wanted to make this its own thing. And it wasn’t that there was a choice to say, ‘We don’t need Tron.’ There just wasn’t a role in this story that was obvious. And to kind of shoehorn it in felt, I don’t know, like it wasn’t necessary.”
Then why is it called Tron?
Simple. Most people know Tron as a movie, not as a character in that movie or a game that exists in the world of the movie. You kind of have to call it that for the name recognition.
Is Athena really gone?
Athena, played by Jodie Turner-Smith, is clearly one of the best parts of Tron: Ares. But, when Encom hacks and destroys the Dillinger grid while she’s still in the real world, it seems as if she has nowhere to go and dies for real. Could she really have been permanently deleted? It’s certainly possible. But, with the Permanence Code now out there, you do have to think she might find a way to get revenge on Ares at some point.
Jeff Bridges is back in Tron: Ares. – Disney
What exactly was that version of Kevin Flynn?
To acquire the Permanence Code, Ares goes into an old copy of the Grid from the original film. There, he encounters Kevin Flynn. But not any Kevin Flynn. An older Kevin Flynn. This Flynn makes it clear you can’t jump between Grids without going into the real world, so is this a Flynn that existed here since the 1980s? Does he have any knowledge of Clu, Sam, and everything in Legacy? We aren’t sure and, frankly, are a little mad it’s left so vague.
What, exactly, is Ares?
If you are a computer program that is given a code that lets you exist in the real world, what exactly are you? Do you have human organs? Are you just wires? We asked Wigutow what he thinks Ares actually is now that he’s in the real world. “I think that there is this kind of unspoken, natural resource that’s probably quite valuable that is fueling those lasers,” he said. “And there’s something about the kind of genetic binding that can’t live beyond the time limit that we put on it, that the Permanence Code then makes binding. So in a way, if you were to kind of slice them in half and do a diagnostic or autopsy, yeah, I’d like to believe that you would find human biology. But I don’t know that that’s the correct answer.”
Are the endings of Legacy and Ares similar on purpose?
And so in the end, our hero brings the digital being off the Grid to live like a human in the real world. It’s the ending of Tron: Legacy as well as Tron: Ares. Was that done on purpose? “It’s part of the kind of genetic mapping of the franchise,” Wigutow said. “I love the kind of ellipsis that the movie leaves itself off on. [Ares] is out there. He’s learning. He’s growing. He’s developing. And who knows where we may find him next and what he looks like and what, you know, what he’s grown into?” So, it wasn’t done on purpose; it just made sense.
Where is Cillian Murphy in all this?
You may have forgotten, but in Tron: Legacy, the Dillinger family was represented by Ed Dillinger Jr., played by eventual Oscar winner Cillian Murphy. Ed Jr. was the son of the villainous character from the first movie and was planned to have a larger role if a sequel had happened closer to the previous movie. Murphy got a little too big for a bit part by the time Ares was released so he’s not here. But Julian Dillinger is Ed Sr.’s grandson. So, either he’s Ed Jr.’s son, or Ed Jr. is his uncle. We don’t know. But we can safely assume he’s out there.
What other questions do you have about Tron: Ares? Let us know below.
Disney’s got a lot of IP it doesn’t always know what to do with, and Tronhas to be high up on that list. After 15 years, the company delivered a sequel to the cult classic Tron: Legacy in the form of Tron: Ares, a third installment that for a long time seemed more like a pipe dream until fairly recently.
To say franchise fans and general moviegoers have been placed in an awkward spot with Ares might undersell it. On one hand, the film’s marketing makes it look like a solid-looking cyber-adventure backed by a rad score courtesy of Nine Inch Nails, who Disney’s been sure to promote as part of this almost as much as the film itself. On the other hand, the titular Ares is played by one Jared Leto, who folks have…mixed feelings about, let’s say, either as an actor or a person more generally.
And speaking of mixed feelings, that sure describes the reception to Tron: Ares itself, yeah? Some love it, some detest it, others think it basically gets the job done. Tron’s never been a super popular franchise, but the reactions to this new one aren’t abnormal for the series, and there’s been consensus reached on some things, like its visuals and Greta Lee doing a lot with a little as Eve Kim. (And the soundtrack being great, but you already knew that.)
Time will tell if Tron: Ares gets a warmer reception after its initial release, but until then? Let us know what you thought about the film in the comments below.
Disney’s reboot Tron: Ares malfunctioned badly in its box office debut, coming in well behind expectations with a domestic opening of $33.5 million from 4,000 theaters. Unless it can solve its problem quickly, it will once and for all end hopes of rebooting a storied, yet troubled, sci-fi franchise that began more than four decades ago when the first film became a cult classic.
Overseas — where the sci-fi genre is an even harder sell — Ares also disappointed with a debut of $27 million for a global start of $60.5 million. It unfurled everywhere except for China, where it opens next weekend.
Heading into the weekend, the big-budget event pic had been tracking to open to $40 million to $45 million domestically (at one point, $50 million was even a possibility) against a hefty net production budget of $180 million after tens of millions in tax breaks and production incentives.
The Tron film franchise has always been challenged, resulting in terms of long gaps between installments. It took 33 years for the sequel, Tron: Legacy, to hit the big screen. Debuting in 2015, Legacy opened to $44 million domestically on its way to earning $409.9 million globally, not adjusted for inflation. Ares was in development for a decade, but former Disney exec Sean Bailey refused to give up and shepherded the project when serving as head of Disney’s live-action studio.
Disney insiders were well aware that Tron: Ares might encounter trouble in its box office debut. The hope now is that solid audience scores can make up for decidedly mixed reviews. Its current critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes is 57 percent, while the audience ranking is much better at 87 percent. And it got four out of five stars on PostTrak. Also, it has little competition coming up and will retain Imax, Dolby Cinema and other premium large-format screens, which combined accounted for an unheard of 67 percent of opening weekend earnings.
Norwegian Disney vet Joachim Rønning directs the third film, which stars Jared Leto as the eponymous program, Ares, Greta Lee as Eve Kim, CEO of ENCOM, the tech corporation at the center of the series since the start, and Evan Peters as baddie Julian Dillinger.
Another new major studio offering this weekend is Miramax and Paramount’s romantic crime-caper comedy Roofman, starring Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst. Derek Cianfrance directed the pic, which co-stars LaKeith Stanfield, Juno Temple and Peter Dinklage.
Roofman came in on the low end of expectations with an estimated $8 million from 3,362 theaters, but who is counting when the film’s net production budget is a modest $19 million (tracking had it debuting at $8 million to $10 million). Miramax produced and financed the film, which hoped to serve as counter-programming for females not interested in Tron or the myriad of male-skewing films dominating the marquee. So far, however, more males than females are showing up to see the film, even if by a slim margin.
Unlike Tron, Roofman boasts strong reviews, although moviegoer reaction is relatively similar. Roofman‘s Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score is 85 percent, while the audience score is 84 percent. Both films received a B+ from polling service CinemaScore, as well as four out of five stars on PostTrak.
Based on a true story, Roofman follows the adventures of an Army veteran and struggling father who turns to robbing McDonald’s restaurants by cutting holes in their roofs, earning him the nickname Roofman. After escaping prison, he secretly lives inside a Toys “R” Us for six months, surviving undetected while planning his next move, but his double life begins to unravel when he falls in love.
Another new nationwide offering is Soul of Fire, from Sony’s faith-based Affirm label. The movie opened to $3 million from 1,730 locations for a sixth-place finish. The good news: the movie reportedly cost a net $3 million to produce and earned an A CinemaScore. It is doing best in America’s heartland and the South.
At the specialty box office, A24 launched its Rose Byrne-starrer If I Had Legs I’d Kick You in four theaters for an estimated per-location north of $27,000, the best of the weekend.
Amazon MGM Studios is also going the platform route with Luca Guadagnino’s specialty psychological thriller After the Hunt, starring Julia Roberts. It’s paying off so far; the #MeToo movie opened in six theaters for a promising per-location average of $25,745. The awards contender, which also stars Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield, Michael Stuhlbarg and Chloë Sevigny, made the rounds at the fall film festivals and is about a sexual assault accusation that tears apart Yale’s philosophy department.
The score for After the Hunt is from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who are on double duty, having also done the score for Tron: Ares (in the latter, they are credited by their band’s name, Nine Inch Nails).
Among holdovers, Paul Thomas Anderson‘s One Battle After Another, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, came in third with an estimated weekend gross of $6.7 from 3,127 sites, a drop of 39 percent. Some box office pundits are stumped that the high-profile awards contender from Warner Bros. isn’t holding in stronger after earning a coveted A+ CinemaScore, but the film’s fate is far from being decided (it is only in its third outing). Overseas, it took in another $15 million for a global tally of $83.5 million and $138 million globally.
New Line and Warner Bros.’ The Conjuring: Last Rites achieved a major milestone in screaming past the $300 million mark internationally. In North America, it rounded out the top five with $3 million from 2,334 cinemas for a domestic tally of $233.4 million and a profit-popping $473 million.
Japanese manga blockbuster Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle also notched a major milestone this weekend in passing up Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to become the top-grossing international film of all time at the domestic box office with a cume of $128.6 million, not adjusted for inflation (it came in seventh for the frame with $3 million from 1,834 sites. Sony’s Crunchyroll is handling the blockbuster both domestically and in numerous foreign territories outside of Japan; its share of the film’s global total of $648 million is $336 million.)
Dwayne Johnson-starrer The Smashing Machine appeared to collapse in its second weekend after getting snubbed by audiences, despite solid reviews. The A24 pic dropped nearly 70 percent to $1.7 million from 3,321 theaters for a paltry 10-day domestic total of $9.8 million and an eighth-place finish. The movie, which kicked off its awards campaign with a splashy world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, marks Johnson’s first foray into Oscar territory. The Benny Safdie-directed pic cost $50 million to produce before marketing, a high price tag for an indie pic, although Johnson himself took a far lower fee than he usually commands.
Title:Tron: Ares Describe This Movie Using One Dragnet Quote: FRIDAY: Reckless endangerment of human life, willful disregard of private property, failure to signal for a lane change. STREEBECK: Yeah, he’s really raking up the violations, isn’t he? FRIDAY: Not him, you. Brief Plot Synopsis: Tech CEO teams up with sentient security program played by Jared Leto … wait, come back! Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: 3 Frankenstein’s monsters out of 5.
Tagline: “No going back.” Better Tagline: “Stop trying to make A.I. happen.” Not So Brief Plot Synopsis: ENCOM, the tech/gaming company formerly run by Kevin Flynn, is in a race with Dillinger Systems to obtain something called the Permanence Code, which will allow objects rendered in our world from cyberspace to outlast their current 29-minute lifespan. ENCOM CEO Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has the inside track, as the code is hidden in one of Flynn’s old gaming servers. However, rival CEO Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters) has a trick up his sleeve: a security program named “Ares” (Jared Leto) that may or may not have more human goals in mind.
“Critical” Analysis: Tron was always a weird choice for a franchise property. The 1982 original — still the most visually arresting movie about intellectual property disputes ever made — was lauded for its special effects*, but otherwise dragged for being a gorgeous snooze-fest. Somehow, director Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick, F1) convinced Disney to make a sequel nearly 30 years later. Tron: Legacy was, like its predecessor, incoherent yet pretty to look at.
Now it’s Joachim Rønning’s turn. Disney kept things in house by bringing on the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and Maleficent director for our latest descent into the Grid. One thing you have to give to Tron: Ares that you couldn’t always say about the first two movies: it isn’t boring.
There are actually lots of things you can say about Ares. For one, Rønning and screenwriter Jesse Wigutow made the decision to set most of the action in the meatspace, where Dillinger (grandson of David Warner’s character from Tron and (presumably) son of Cillian Murphy’s uncredited Ed Jr. in Legacy) wants ENCOM’s code to shore up his pending A.I. contracts with the military. It’s a smart move — considering the groundbreaking F/X of the original were already old hat by 2010 — and helps ground the story.
Or as grounded as a story about sentient code repeatedly violating the First Law of Thermodynamics can be, anyway.
They also steer the protagonist arc mostly away from the Flynns. It’s the worst kept secret outside of Trump being named in the Epstein Files that Jeff Bridges is back in Ares (for maybe 10 minutes) as the virtual Kevin Flynn, but neither hide nor hair is to be seen of Garret Hedlund’s Sam, and that’s fine, really. Instead, we have Greta Lee’s Eve Kim, whose efforts to obtain the “permanence code” are propelled by the memory of her dead sister.
Ares is a pretty blatant attempt to perpetuate the myth that artificial intelligence is good, actually. Kim, in contrast to Dillinger, wants to use the technology’s potential to feed the hungry, help cure illnesses, and mitigate climate change. It would all be very inspiring if our current real world crop of pasty A.I. gurus weren’t singularly hellbent on wiping out lower sector jobs, depleting water reserves, and plagiarizing creatives.
But at the risk of sounding like Homer Simpson, where’s TRON? The names ENCOM and Dillinger are familiar, but Flynn is the only constant throughout all three movies, and his presence here is largely superfluous. The idea of a Grid-like cyberverse is now well-trod territory, and while it’s cool to see light cycles and Recognizers showing up on the streets of San Francisco Vancouver, it’s hard to shake the feeling that Rønning took creator Steven Lisberger’s original “aliens among us” inspiration, swapped out “aliens” for “A.I.,” and affixed a “Tron” label to it.
Your opinions about the previous movies aside (I honestly have almost no memory of Legacy), all three feature kickass soundtracks. Wendy Carlos’ original remains the gold standard, but Daft Punk was one of the only reasons to recommend Tron: Legacy. Here, Nine Inch Nails take over, and aside from the unremarkable “As Alive As You Need Me To Be,” their score absolutely propels the action in Ares.
It’s this same action that sets Ares apart from the first two, which one could charitably describe as “deliberative.” Ares ain’t that, with the Kim/Dillinger maneuvering only giving pause to the spectacle of a freeway light cycle chase or a Recognizer taking on fighter jets (piloted by NIN’s Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, yes really). Gillian Anderson, playing Julian’s mother Elisabeth, even gets in on the action, slapping her son when the scale of his hubris spins out of control.
I’m not even jealous, even though I’ve been longing to be slapped by Anderson for years.
As for the Leto of it all, he’s not bad, even if I can imagine his publicity tour amounting to, “Hi, I’m Jared Leto. Please go see my new movie, but don’t read my Wikipedia entry.” And if Ares is simultaneously a paragon of enlightened self-awareness while also being the baddest dude in virtual *and* physical reality, I’m sure it had nothing to do with Leto’s status as executive producer.
If you’re looking for a nuanced look at the ontological implications of artificial intelligence, I can recommend a few Substacks. Tron: Ares, on the other hand, is entertaining in the same way as an amusement park ride**. It’s loud, visually arresting, and the thrill wears off in minutes. It’s probably the least Tron of all three movies, which might be why it’s my favorite so far.
*Fun fact: Tron was disqualified from the Best Visual Effects Oscar because the Academy viewed using computers as “cheating.” **Ironically, not the the Light Cycle ride at Magic Kingdom, which sucks.
Hi, I’m Joachim Ronning. I’m the director of “Tron: Ares.” So this is the scene where Julian Dillinger has discovered that Eve is in possession of the permanence code. So he’s sending his two top programs after her, Ares and Athena. And we get to see them on the light cycles. And Ares obviously being played by Jared Leto, Athena being played by Jodie Turner-Smith and Eve being played by Greta Lee. I put so much pressure on myself and everybody to get this right, this sequence, because it’s such an iconic part of the Tron universe, the light cycle chase, and light cycles. And we spent a year designing this. And here, the police car, obviously, this is the first time we’re going to see the famous Tron light wall in the real world. And boom. We shot this in Vancouver over six weeks of nights. And luckily, Vancouver is a very film friendly city, so we were able to close down the bridge and really, really do this. And then we finally found together with Darren Gilford, the production designer, and we found a look for the light cycles and together with the suits and I’m really happy with them. This is the Akira slide by the way, which is super important for me to get in there. And I remember reading the script three years ago and thinking like, how can we be worthy of a next Tron chapter. And I think I got to page 30 or something like that. And, and I saw the digital assets coming into the real world and the light cycles coming out and creating havoc on the streets. And I felt like as a fan, as a filmmaker, that’s something I really wanted to see. So here we are getting into the parkade, and this is like, I wanted to have a sequence in the middle of this big chase that we just stopped down and we brought it all down and it became more a psychological thriller sequence. “Come on.” With Eve hiding and wondering what the hell is going on here and being resourceful, she ghost rides her Ducati and takes down Athena. And Athena Boom. Falling through the air here. That’s a real stunt woman doing that. And obviously this is in March in Vancouver. So it’s like everybody’s really cold. And it’s not easy. And we did it over so many nights. And you get that 1,000 yard stare after a while. But I’m really happy we did it. I think the audience can feel that this is real. It’s in camera. We built the light cycles, and we’re coming up to this moment now where Eve is about to make a decision and get on one. So I think the big advantages of building these assets the light cycle, we built a couple of them. What that meant was that we were able to put the camera on the light cycles with the actors. Here’s Athena coming T-1000 style, running for her. And here we go. I think this is kind of like a wish fulfillment for a lot of fans, to be able to drive the light cycle in the real world. And it sure is for me. And it was so amazing to be able to do this. And I think when you make these big movies, you have the resources to get it. And here’s Greta Lee escaping Jodie Turner-Smith or Athena actually running behind her. And you get all these things in the same shot. And both Jodie and Greta did so much running on this movie. And obviously Jodie is in that suit. So I was just so amazed by these, the physicalities that these actors went through.
The Joachim Rønning-directed film, the third entry in the Tron movie franchise, hits theaters on Oct. 10.
‘Tron: Ares’
Leah Gallo
On a busy night of film debuts, Disney’s sci-fi action movie Tron: Areshad its starry world premiere in Los Angeles. Full critics reviews for the third entry in the Tron film franchise officially drop tomorrow morning, but early reaction to the feature has already hit social media — and the consensus seems to be the film is visually spectacular, in particular on Imax screens, and features an all-timer soundtrack from Nine Inch Nails.
Tron: Ares features a very topical story about mankind’s interaction with artificial intelligence and stars Jared Leto as a sophisticated AI program who leaves the digital world to complete missions in the real world. The cast also includes Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro and Gillian Anderson. Tron regular Jeff Bridges returns as the legendary Kevin Flynn.
Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Rønning (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil) directed the film, with the script written by Jesse Wigutow and cinematography was done by frequent David Fincher collaborator Jeff Cronenweth. As mentioned previously, the movie’s propulsive music is by Nine Inch Nails’ Oscar-winning duo Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
Tron: Ares follows the Joseph Kosinski-directed Tron: Legacy (2010), which again was praised for its visuals and notably featured the classic soundtrack by French electro superstars Daft Punk. The first Tron film was released in theaters in 1982 and despite its moderate box office success, became a cult classic for its groundbreaking visuals.
Ahead of the official reviews for Tron: Ares, read on for the early social media reactions to the film.
#TRONAres is THRILLING, pulse-pounding, and a VISUAL SPECTACULAR! The real star of the show is the mind-melting soundtrack by Nine Inch Nails, which methodically matches every moment. Story may be simple, but the IMAX experience more than makes up for it. We need to see a sequel. pic.twitter.com/L8nAt9cq4t
— Daniel Baptista • The Movie Podcast (@dbapz) October 7, 2025
#TronAres is as basic as basic gets. Bare bones, straight forward story, emotions and characters. Which is fine. But it has really fun visuals and a very propulsive soundtrack, and just enough Tron legacy to keep fans interested. Enjoyed it more than I didn’t. pic.twitter.com/mouGowVAtp
It fuses the tech of Tron with the real world to mind-blowing results. More practical stunts and more epic sci-fi action. A visual spectacle that must be seen in @IMAX.
#TronAres is visually astounding and the NIN tracks go so hard.
The story’s middle portion is pretty thrilling & engaging before it gets a bit bogged with a supporting cast saddled to expositional efforts in the third act.
#TronAres’s aesthetics are slick, radical & eye-popping and the Nine Inch Nails score are new club classics that complement the visionary bedazzlement. The women (Greta Lee, Jodie Turner-Smith & Gillian Anderson) steal the show, elevating their material. @Disneypic.twitter.com/fPJRknItuJ
#TronAres was everything I could’ve wanted from this franchise. A certified BANGER. The NIN score absolutely rips, it’s a visual FEAST, and the AI-driven plot was surprisingly compelling/relevant. Greta Lee and Evan Peters are fantastic – and Leto was freaking badass. A few shaky… pic.twitter.com/cA8ZexNdHR
#TronAres is pure visual noise A film that borrows tropes from every great AI sci-fi movie but never digs deeper than the surface. It’s stylish, has awesome action, cool ideas but emotionally empty.
Thank god for the NIN Score which truly is the saving Grace alongside Greta Lee pic.twitter.com/8BPD6FyhSp
I’m very conflicted about #TronAres, a movie plays with all of the sci-fi tropes that tech bros learn all the wrong lessons from and has some genuinely rad action sequences, but is bogged down by the charisma vacuum known as Jared Leto and some distracting ADR.
TRON: ARES is a good time. Combining mythos with technological advancements, there are nods to past projects while looking towards the future. Brilliant cast with stunning visual effects and a score I wanted injected into my veins. #TronAres#IMAXpic.twitter.com/fkliaZg3Q7
— film posers™️ Josie Marie 🇵🇸🇵🇷 (@TheJosieMarie) October 7, 2025
Consider me glued to #TronAres . While I think it holds back on deeper mythology for new fans, it’s actually an advantage. It’s a thrilling Tron adventure that blazes by, with a perfectly awkward Ares showcasing Jared Leto’s Program learning our world. I want/need more. pic.twitter.com/ASH3h0Gf8U
#TronAres is THE COOLEST-LOOKING FILM YOU’LL SEE THIS YEAR. Fuelled by an electrifying Nine Inch Nails score, every frame pulses with style and energy. The story may not fully grip you, but it’s a full-on sensory experience that looks incredible in @IMAX . pic.twitter.com/1PJjkUYDrE
#TRONAres lights up with more than visuals. Greta Lee grounds the neon spectacle, but the story feels hollow. Style wins over substance, with sound and choreography outshining real emotional engagement. pic.twitter.com/uT8v76waLf
— iammichaeljlee.bsky.social (@IamMichaelJLee) October 7, 2025
#TronAres is a modern sci-fi masterpiece. Epic, stunning visuals that demand to be seen in IMAX accompany a story that never stops moving. The phenomenal music from Nine Inch Nails is a character unto itself. Extremely approachable for those unfamiliar with the previous films. pic.twitter.com/LkvDutcicD
— The HoloFiles – Movie/TV News & Reviews (@theholofiles) October 7, 2025
Tron Ares is visually stunning and has some of the best 3D I’ve seen in a decade (outside of the Avatar films). That said the movie’s plot is extremely dumb, and I just didn’t care about any of the characters. If after that reaction you still want to see it, IMAX 3D is a must. pic.twitter.com/FVSTohmtZz
Jared Leto is known for a lot of things at this point, but one thing that he’s perhaps very known for is his approach to getting in character on-set. Leto is a tried and true method performer, and his turn as the titular program in the upcoming Tron: Ares was no exception to that process.
Which might mean you’re bracing yourself to hear how Leto could possibly have gotten into method acting for playing a digital warrior made up of code that comes from a computerized alt-world. After all, this is the man who hobbled about on crutches during the production of Morbius—to the point of contributing to the film’s production delays—or showed up to the set of Blade Runner 2049pretending to be blind.
Or, perhaps most infamously, allegedly sent his Suicide Squad castmates animals (living and dead) and used condoms, among other things. So what could Leto have possibly done to maintain his method cred for Tron?
Turns out, it was significantly less weird than you’d expect: he simply forbade people on set from referring to him by name. Instead, it was Ares or nothing (or Air, if you’re Jeff Bridges, according to a recent interview on the Sirius XM show Literally! with Rob Lowe).
“I do address him as Ares when we’re filming and everybody goes, we get a little bit up. He’s the general walking onto set, which is fine,” Ares director Joachim Rønning recently told Screenrant. “And it’s not uncommon for actors to do it like that. And it works for him. And I think you can feel it in any movie he makes. He’s completely into the character.”
According to Rønning, it was the least he could do to help Leto get into the character of an AI supersoldier. “I know he’s a little wary about talking about his [process], I would say it’s his method,” the director continued. “It’s like, yes, he’s in character for the most part when we did this film, but that’s great. Honestly for me as a director, whatever works, I think he’s one of the best actors in the world.”
Still, considering the lengths that Leto has gone to get into a character in the past, simply asking to go by his role’s name means everyone on the Ares set got off lightly.
Seasonal and promotional ride overlays are now ways to draw in more people to revisit beloved attractions at Disney’s parks or give passholders a reason to come back over and over. Over time some have had more longevity than others, as the most popular overlay continues to be Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion Holiday, which has Jack Skellington and friends take over the West Coast haunt with his spooky Christmas shenanigans. Meanwhile, the haunted version of Space Mountain: Ghost Galaxy seems to have exorcised its spirit—it just might have been a tad too scary, while Star Wars: Hyperspace Mountain stays beating out the rest.
Here is a compilation of some of the most out-there and unique Disney experiences overlays, along with their current statuses at the parks.
Tron Lightcycle Run (NIN Tron: Ares Collaboration)
io9 recently got to experience the Tron: Ares overlay at the Magic Kingdom’s Tron Lightcycle Run coaster (Walt Disney World admission and Lightning Lane were provided), which for the first time features the actual score from the new movie. When we covered the opening of the ride back in 2023, Disney creatives revealed that the on-ride music was a new arrangement based on Daft Punk’s score for Tron: Legacy made specifically for the purposes of the attraction. You can, however, still hear the iconic Daft Punk tracks featured throughout the coaster’s queue and exit areas. Inside the ride itself, the usual Tron blue hue is swapped for Ares‘ crimson aesthetic as part of a new narrative of the ride, as we’re tasked with seemingly working with a program-gone-rogue before deleting it to preserve the grid (perhaps giving us a hint at what Ares will be about).
With the release of Tron: Ares, the coaster transforms into Nine Inch Nails: The Ride in the best way, with their signature industrial instrumentals, which fit perfectly in the world of the Grid gone rogue. It really works as a tonal opposite companion to the Team Blue track that usually plays. If the ride were ever built elsewhere, it would be such a cool dual coaster utilizing both instrumentations. At night the Ares theming looks incredible, to boot.
The Haunted Mansion Holiday is what happens when The Nightmare Before Christmas’s popularity gets out of hand (thanks, Hot Topic). Don’t get me wrong, we love the film and Jack Skellington’s frightful festive branding, but we believe it takes over the Haunted Mansion too early. The Christmas-themed overlay goes up in September for Halloweentime at the Disneyland resort, even though the Haunted Mansion is the perfect ride for Halloween. Its ghosts and scares make more sense to continue until the end of October! But I guess those of us in the camp that thinks this incredible overlay of holiday cheer should start in November are in the minority, because the queue for it is always over an hour or even longer during its fall and winter run.
Space Mountain (Rockin’ Space Mountain, Ghost Galaxy, Hyperspace Mountain)
Space Mountain at Disneyland (sorry, Magic Kingdom, and your sad Christmas music overlay) is hands down the champ of seasonal theming. What began with Rockin’ Space Mountain when the coaster got a Red Hot Chili Peppers soundtrack has only glowed up from there. For a while, it was the home of a space specter that might have been too scary during Halloweentime’s Space Mountain: Ghost Galaxy. I can attest from my personal experience that I am still haunted by the memory of the thrilling, creepy music and jump-scare projections of being chased through dead space by a very angry fiery ghost with hollowed eyes. It hasn’t held up residence in the coaster since 2018, though it has gone over to Hong Kong Disney’s Space Mountain variant.
However, Space Mountain’s current reigning seasonal offering is Hyperspace Mountain, where you zoom through the Star Wars galaxy in a dogfight between X-Wings and TIE Fighters, all set to the films’ legendary John Williams score. Its debut predates the opening of Galaxy’s Edge and remains a better experience than Smugglers Run because we want that hyperspeed thrill of being in the fights we grew up watching. You can usually catch it in the spring during Disneyland’s Season of the Force events in the run-up to Star Wars Day.
It’s a Small World at Tokyo Disneyland recently received new pint-sized guests thanks to Baby Groot and friends. Earlier this year, Avengers fans were able to see Earth’s mightiest and tiniest figures throughout the attraction at the Asia park. Along with Groot, it included Ms. Marvel, Thor, Hulk, and Black Panther, among others. Yet, there’s no word if either of the states’ versions of the ride would ever get this. Perhaps Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom version could, since it definitely needs some love.
It would be too crammed at Disneyland’s original ride, as it currently has more of a permanent addition in the form of iconic characters being given the original ride artist Mary Blair treatment within their corresponding countries. For instance, you can find Cinderella in France, and new for this year, they added Pixar’s Coco heroes Miguel and Dante to the Mexico section of the ride.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout (After Dark)
For Halloween at Disney California Adventure, Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout gets infested by monsters after dark. The drop tower attraction overlay is a current Halloweentime staple at the Disneyland resort for those who want to get even more terrified. The storyline takes a turn when various creatures from the collection are let loose, leaving riders to go into a dark monster house version of the Collector’s fortress to rescue Groot.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (September, Holiday Remix)
Speaking of the Guardians, over in Disney World, the Epcot attraction Cosmic Rewind gets a few cute variants. From September 21 through the 30, the ride only plays Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September,” which is usually one of the songs that plays on random rotation from the ride’s usual mixtape, a nod to the Awesome Mixes from the James Gunn movies. It’s such a silly nod to the meme-fication of your parent’s fave disco-era track, but endearing nonetheless. I still haven’t gotten this song on my rides of the mixtape-based coaster and missed this guarantee by a few days recently! I did, however, get to experience the holiday overlay on it, Holiday Remix, which only lasted one year in 2022 and was set to the tune of “Run, Run, Rudolph” but parodied as “Run, Run, Rocket”. Cute!
The Jingle Cruise is missed at Disneyland. It felt as if nostalgic vintage holidays threw up on the riverboat ride. It’s more of a chaotic added theme that the skippers use as fodder for their Jungle Cruise bits on the fly, as you can see the animals on the ride appear to have gotten into some Christmas cargo. And the holiday puns are always top tier! Every year I wish it would return to Disneyland (it ended on the West Coast in 2017), but thankfully it is still operating during the holidays at the Magic Kingdom’s Jungle Cruise in Walt Disney World.
Lastly, Epcot’s sustainable garden and farming zen ride, which is a favorite to decompress on, gets a lovely holiday lights tour overlay during the winter. It makes the relaxing and educational voyage away from the overstimulating bustle of the park even more wondrous to behold as festive key ingredients of holiday dishes from around the world are nerdily described over the course of the attraction. It’s theme park ASMR and chill holiday vibes. I hope Disney never changes this, because this little gem is something completely unexpected yet comforting to bask in at Epcot during Disney World’s busiest times.
A new promo for the upcoming Tron: Ares features Mr. Beast in it and….*sigh* I’m just going to lie down for a moment. I’m very tired.
Why must Tron fans suffer? It’s a question I’ve thought about a lot. New Tron movies are rare. Tron games are often good, but nowhere near as plentiful as those for Star Wars or other brands. For years at a time, it will seem like Disney has forgotten it even owns the franchise, then it returns for a bit before going back into hibernation once more. I should, as a big Tron sicko, be excited for Tron: Ares. And I was, at one point. But not anymore…not anymore.
On September 5, Disney released a new look at Tron: Ares, but before anyone could get to the new footage featuring everyone’s favorite person, Jared Leto, we had to get a Mr. Beast jumpscare. Apparently, Disney thinks popular charity streamer and candy bar mogul Mr. Beast saying “Let’s do this!” in the most monotone and robotic way possible will help bring in the youth and make Tron: Ares a big hit. Instead, my timeline and most of the reactions to the ad show people giving up on the movie before it even arrives in theaters. And despite Mr. Beast not actually being in the movie, can you blame them?
The movie stars Jared Leto, which alone is a terrible marketing point. He’s a so-so actor who has been accused of sexual misconduct (allegations which he denies), and overall he just seems like a big creep. Then you have the plot of Tron: Ares, which seems to be built around the idea of digital beings from the Grid being brought into the real world. Meh. It’s neat to see a Lightcycle slice a police car in half, but leaving the Grid seems like a mistake. Now, the movie is being promoted by Mr. Beast. It almost seems like Disney is trying to pull a Producers-like stunt here and ensure nobody watches Tron: Ares.
I guess the one good thing to come out of Tron: Ares is the existence of some new Nine Inch Nails music. That’s cool. I like that. Even if the movie sucks, at least it helped push Disney to remaster Tron: Legacy in 4K and got us all some new NIN songs. So not a total loss.
The sad thing is, I’ll still be there on day one (that’s October 10, by the way) to see Tron: Ares because I love Tron and want more of it. “Let’s do this,” indeed, Mr. Beast. Indeed.
If Tron: Areshas you wanting to watch the first two movies again, you’re in luck: they’re getting new and improved versions on September 16.
During its Destination 23 showcase, Disney announced full remasters of the original Tron and its 2010 sequel Legacy are coming to Ultra 4K HD and digital. (It’s been a long time since either had physical versions, the last edition was a two-movie Blu-Ray bundle back in 2014.) Physical versions of the two films will come with fancy new steelbook editions seen below and are expected to have the special features at the time of their respective DVD releases back in the day. At time of writing, there’s no word on a price point, and it seems Disney’s got no inclination to re-releasing either film in theaters ahead of October’s Tron: Ares.
Speaking of Ares, Disney also used its Destination showcase to reveal Nine Inch Nails’ music from the film will be used in the Tron Lightcycle Attractions at Walt Disney World Resort and Shanghai World Resort, beginning September 15 and 16, respectively. The score and red overlay seen throughout Ares’ marketing will be featured at the attractions for a “limited time.” There’s also a new promo for Ares hyping up its titular hero and the incoming invasion of digital beings to the human world he’ll play a key role in.
Pre-orders for the Tron and Legacy steelbooks aren’t up yet at time of writing, but should be soon. Meanwhile, Tron: Ares hits theaters October 10.
Jared Leto is known for his method-acting ways when working on films, and that extends to the recently finished Tron: Ares, according to co-star Jeff Bridges.
Speaking during an appearance on SiriusXM’s Literally! With Rob Lowe, Bridges talked about meeting Leto for the first time, and how he was told that Leto was already going by his character — Ares — name instead of his own.
What did Bridges say about Leto’s method acting?
“I hadn’t met him before. I’m saying, ‘What’s it gonna be like?’ because he was also a producer of the show, big fan of the original, working on it for 10 years. I came in, and you know how each set has a different vibe?” Bridges said. “There was an interesting vibe on this. I said, ‘How’s Jared? How’s he working?’ ‘He’s all right. You know, we call him Ares, you know, so he goes by his name,’ and I said, ‘Oh, that’s interesting.’”
Alongside Leto and Bridges (the latter of whom is reprising his role as Kevin Flynn), Tron: Ares also stars Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Hasan Minhaj, Jodie Turner-Smith, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan, Gillian Anderson, and Sarah Desjardins.
Disney+ Has the Best Bundle in the Business
Sign-up today for access to Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+
Tron: Ares will be the third official feature film in Disney’s Tron franchise following 1982’s Tron and 2010’s Tron: Legacy. The film is directed by Joachim Rønning, who previously made 2019’s Maleficent: Mistress of Evil and 2024’s Young Woman and the Sea. He also co-directed 2017’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales with Espen Sandberg.
Production on the new Tron movie officially wrapped in May 2024. Rønning wrote in an Instagram post at the time, “Thanks to an incredible and tireless crew, I really believe we pushed the filmmaking limits on this movie. Even through six weeks of night shoots you never slowed down. Also, a big thank you to our wonderful cast for leaving everything on screen. I can’t wait to show the world what we’ve done.”
Tron: Ares will be released in United States theaters and IMAX on October 10, 2025, from Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
Jared Leto‘s Method acting ways on everything from Suicide Squad to Morbius have generated so much attention that when Jeff Bridges reported for work on Tron: Ares, he didn’t quite know what to expect.
“I hadn’t met him before. I’m saying, ‘What’s it gonna be like?’ because he was also a producer of the show, big fan of the original, working on it for 10 years. I came in, and you know how each set has a different vibe?” Bridges asked Rob Lowe during an appearance on his podcast series, SiriusXM’s Literally! With Rob Lowe. “There was an interesting vibe on this. I said, ‘How’s Jared? How’s he working?’ ‘He’s all right. You know, we call him Ares, you know, so he goes by his name,’ and I said, ‘Oh, that’s interesting.’”
The Disney tentpole — a follow-up to the 1982 seminal science-fiction film Tron and the 2010 sequel, Tron: Legacy — stars Leto as Ares, a computer program sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission to introduce artificial intelligence beings to humans. Bridges has been a part of the entire franchise by playing video game designer Kevin Flynn. Tron: Ares, directed by Maleficent: Mistress of Evil’s Joachim Ronning, features a cast that also includes Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Hasan Minhaj, Jodie Turner-Smith, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan and Gillian Anderson.
The subject of Method acting came up as Lowe detailed what he’s like on set and how it’s similar to Bridges’ approach. “You, I know, are like me of the school of actor where we show up and do it. There’s not a lot of artifice around the edges. We’ve done whatever work we need to do, we’re doing it in the quiet of our own privacy, so I can go and be Rob, and we can talk about the Lakers or whatever, and they can say, ‘five minutes,’ and we come to the set, and we do it, and then when they cut, we go, ‘Hey, you know, I went to a great Mexican restaurant last night,’” he explained. “Then, there’s Jared Leto, who, you know, when Jared played the Joker, I have a friend who played his best friend. He was Mr. J the whole time.”
Bridges continued the thought by saying that both ways of doing it can “work beautifully,” though when he showed up on Tron: Ares, he wasn’t sure how to play it. “His name was Ares in the show, and I ended up going, ‘Hey Air, what’s happening man?’” he explained. “And I say, ‘Is it OK if I call you Air?’ And he says, ‘Yeah, sure you can.’ Then we got loose, and it was just wonderful. I mean, we jammed, you know?”
He nodded to the music in the film, prompting Lowe to confirm that Leto’s character is also a rockstar. “Big rockstar, man,” he confirmed. “I won’t tell you ’cause we get into some music stuff in the show, and it’s quite good. He’s wonderful in the part though, and I’m so happy to be a part [of it].”
Playing a rockstar isn’t that much of a stretch for Leto, the longtime frontman of Thirty Seconds to Mars. The band kicked off its Seasons Tour earlier this year, on March 14, in Santiago, Chile, at Lollapalooza. Dates continue through the end of the year before wrapping in Dubai on Dec. 12. Most recently, they just finished a series of shows in Australia before performing in Singapore this weekend.
Tron: Ares is due for release on Oct. 10, 2025. Bridges joined Leto, Lee and Peters onstage at D23 last month to tease what’s to come. “Technology and AI is omnipresent in our lives,” Bridges offered during his remarks. “What a perfect time to revisit this world. Or, have this world visit us, because that’s what happens in this movie.”
Jeff Bridges, Greta Lee, Evan Peters and Jared Leto appear at D23 in Anaheim, Calif., on Aug. 9, 2024.
