We are now two weeks removed from the release of Tron: Ares, and it’s not looking good. According to Deadline, the film is expected to lose over $132 million, which is quite a bit more than previously believed.
There are two factors at play there. Not only is the box office performance weaker than anticipated, but new reports show that quite a bit more money was spent on the film than was previously disclosed. Initially, Tron: Ares had a reported budget of $170-$180 million. However, that figure has jumped to $220 million, per Deadline. And that’s before you factor in things like marketing costs, which the outlet pegs at an additional $100 million or more.
The end result is a massively budgeted Tron movie that’s failing to perform critically — it’s currently sitting at a 53% on Rotten Tomatoes — or commercially. Currently, after two weeks at the global box office, Tron: Ares is sitting at just over $100 million in box office receipts. It’s hard to imagine it matching the $409 million haul that Tron: Legacy had 15 years ago when it was released.
Perhaps that’s because Disney is approaching Tron all wrong. While the previous movies weren’t MCU-sized smash hits, the first Tron has a small but dedicated fanbase that has kept the franchise alive. That’s not necessarily something you should be throwing $200 million at, though.
Instead, I am imploring Disney to rethink Tron, and there’s already a perfect case study for doing exactly that.
The low-stakes history of the Predator franchise has led to its lasting survival. These movies are routinely made for under $100 million and have all managed to be successful — including the Alien vs. Predator films. Today, the franchise is arguably in its highest-profile position since Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carl Weathers pulled off the manliest handshake ever in the original movie.
Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane) is the director behind the last few Predator projects, imbuing them with well-written, memorable characters matched with engaging stories. He soft-rebooted the franchise with the Hulu original movie Prey on a budget of $60 million, proving you could tell smaller stories within the Predator franchise. Trachtenberg followed that with the animated anthology Predator: Killer of Killers, applying a similar concept to an entirely different format. Now, he’s bringing Predator back to the big screen with Predator: Badlands.
Badlands is the priciest Predator movie in franchise history, with a reported budget of $100 million. This may sound like a Tron: Ares-level risk, but there’s an easy argument to be made that Trachtenberg and the stories he’s telling have earned the opportunity to go even bigger due to past successes. (Plus, $100 million is still way less money than $220M.)
Tron doesn’t have that same foundation. Instead, what started as a relatively low-budget science fiction movie with cult classic status spawned two big-budget sequels that failed to win over critics. Legacy at least made money, but Ares is also dramatically underperforming financially.
If the franchise is going to continue — and if reports are any indication, it might not — changes need to be made. It’s time for Tron to go back to basics.
With advances in filmmaking and computer animation technology, a movie that takes place entirely within the grid is more possible now, on a smaller budget, than ever before. And with less money on the line, theoretically, less scrutiny would be invited from the plethora of producers and studio executives that all have a say in the finished product. Instead, the right filmmaker with a strong vision for Tron can put the care and attention into the franchise and create something great.
There’s no denying that Tron: Ares — and Legacy, before it — are incredibly cool-looking movies. Unfortunately, they’re little more than that. The characters don’t resonate, the stories have little impact, and the films ultimately play like visual effects sizzle reels with incredible soundtracks.
If Ares somehow isn’t the end of the road for Tron, I hope the suits at Disney think long and hard before ever trying this series again. Tron could be a reliable property to engage with older fans, while introducing new ones to the franchise. However, it’s clear that throwing money and celebrities at it isn’t working. Instead, find someone to do with Tron what Dan Trachtenberg is doing with the Predator series. Because that seems to be going really well.
