Instead of beginning production this week in Vancouver, director Joachim Rønning revealed the threequel has been put on indefinite hiatus and 150 crew members laid off.
Tron: Ares, the long awaited third installment in the decades-spanning Tron film franchise was set to begin filming this week, but instead, the production has shut down and laid off 150 crew members.
Director Joachim Rønning (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil) recently took to Instagram to reveal the disappointing news, while also urging a resolution to the contract disputes prolonging the current WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
“Today was supposed to be our first day of principal photography on TRON: ARES (a movie subsequently about AI and what it means, and takes, to be human),” wrote Rønning in his post. “Instead, we are shut down with over a hundred and fifty people laid off. It’s indefinite, which makes it exponentially harder for everyone. The AMPTP, SAG-AFTRA and WGA need to speed up the negotiating process and not leave the table until it’s done. This is Hollywood. We close deals for breakfast. Why do we suddenly have all the time in the world when every day is so precious? These tactics are extremely frustrating. It’s time for diplomacy so we can get back to work – under conditions that are fair to everybody.”
Tron: Ares focuses “on the emergence of a sentient program that crosses over into the human world that is not ready for contact.” The sci-fi franchise began with 1982’s ground-breaking Tron, starring Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a man teleported into his own video game, who must team with security program Tron to survive. The 2010 sequel Tron: Legacy, helmed by Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski, also starred Bridges, in addition to Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde, and included an impressive 1,565 VFX shots, 882 created by Digital Domain (723 in Venice and 159 in Vancouver).
The threequel stars Jared Leto (Suicide Squad, Morbius) as Ares, Evan Peters (Dahmer), Greta Lee (Past Lives), and Jodie Turner-Smith (Queen & Slim, The Acolyte).
Justin Springer and Jeffrey Silver produce alongside Emma Ludbrook and Leto for their production company Paradox. Russell Allen executive produces.
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