Tron Your Marks, Get Set, Go: Joseph Kosinski Says 'Tron 3' Isn't Dead Yet

Apart from a ride named after the film at Shanghai Disneyland, 2010's Tron: Legacy wasn't exactly the neon-filled finance-spinner that director Joseph Kosinski had expected. As one of #Disney's forgotten franchises, has anyone actually noticed that we haven't had a third #Tron film? Now, seven years later, and with still no sign of a sequel, Kosinski has offered an update on whether we will be going back into the arcade machine, or if we have run out of quarters.

Tron Yer' Bike

Speaking to Collider, the director has seemingly retconned previous comments about how far along a sequel is, but maintains that a third Tron is coming, it is just defrosting at the moment:

"I guess I can say that 'Tron 3' is in cryogenic freeze. So, it’s there. It’s not dead. It’s alive, but it’s sitting there, waiting for the right time to move forward."

Before 2010's film was even released, Disney was bankrolling a sequel with Legacy writers Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis. There were even rumors that an a teaser trailer for Tron 3 could be included with Legacy's home-release, however, it never materialized. In March 2011, Kosinski said that the script was just weeks away from completion, and he would (unsurprisingly) be tentatively titling it Tr3n. Well, it has certainly been a long two weeks, because doing a bit of backtracking, Kosinski's latest update is less than positive.

Interestingly though, he also revealed what his plans for another film would entail, including ditching that clichéd numerical title:

"The movie was called, 'Tron: Ascension,' I think that’s out there. I think we got the script to about 80%. We were in good shape. .. What I’m excited about is the concept, which is an invasion movie from inside the machine coming out as opposed to one we’ve usually seen. So we hinted at that at the end of 'Legacy' with Quorra coming out, but the idea for Ascension was a movie that was, the first act was in the real world, the second act was in the world of Tron, or multiple worlds of Tron, and the third act was totally in the real world."

The idea aims to continue Olivia Wilde's performance as Quorra in the outside world and emulate ideas from Stranger in a Strange Land, but it sounds a bit like they are running out of power on where the series could go. As standalone sci-fi films, the Trons were above average, but push them into franchise territory and we could get stuck with a Divergent series and something that isn't rounded off properly.

Building Bridges

Admittedly we had to wait 28 years between the first two films, but having #JeffBridges back as Kevin Flynn was a huge coup for Legacy. Unfortunately, it also had that awkward Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull syndrome, where you felt that Disney was trying to hand the baton over to Garrett Hedlund's Sam Flynn. Although Bridges seemingly died at the end of Legacy, the ONLY way in which a third Tron would work is if he got back on the light cycle.

Sadly, Hedlund doesn't exactly bring the Hollywood credentials to carry a third entry, while his recent films like Mojave and Pan have hardly set the box office alight. It is Jeff Bridges who most people would be tuning in to see, but the ending of Legacy seemingly set up for just the further adventures of Sam and Quorra. The magic of Tron was what was inside the machine, so Kosinski's idea to have a third film set largely outside of the arcade won't fill critics of the series with much hope. Fortunately/unfortunately, it was Disney's animated Legacy prequel, Tron: Uprising, which has been the best-received, so perhaps Tron: Ascension could move forward in that medium?

The problem with Tron is that at the moment, it is currently split over two generations, and if they wait much longer, there will be three generations of Tron fans who each have a differing opinion on which film is the best. To be honest, Tron is hardly top of anyone's list, let alone Disney's. The corporation is much more likely to focus on "safe bet" franchises like Pirates of the Caribbean or Star Wars, which may cost a fortune, but offer big rewards in the monetary stakes. Probably the only people currently angling for Tron 3 are Daft Punk!