Tron: Ares Receives Promising Update

Fire up the Light Cycles because Tron: Ares is finally moving forward. According to an exclusive report by Collider, the production on the third installment in the Tron series will start filming “right after the holidays.” Collider was a bit vague with their revelation, since Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and the New Year are all coming up. Nevertheless, the highly anticipated sequel is moving in the right direction — at least it will be somewhere around Turkey Day and the singing of Auld Lang Syne.

It’s been 13 years since Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner reprised their roles from the original film in 2010’s Tron: Legacy. Garrett Hedlund joined the cast as Kevin Flynn’s (Bridges) son, Sam. And Olivia Wilde portrayed the integral Quorra for the first time. Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, there’s been zero indication that any of these four actors will return for Tron: Ares.

Tron 3 will be led by Oscar-winning actor Jared Leto. Leto will portray the titular character, Ares, and the thespian’s immense talents have been proven time and time again in films like American Psycho, Dallas Buyers Club and Suicide Squad. And Leto recently joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2022 as the star of Sony’s Spider-Man spin-off, Morbius. So, Leto has the distinction of joining those other actors who’ve played in both DC Comics and Marvel’s sandboxes.

Related: Tron 3: Plot, Cast, and Everything Else We Know

There’s been an air of mystery and suspense clouding the production and the ongoing development hell of Tron: Ares, and then the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strikes complicated matters even further. In fact, Ares’ director, Joachim Rønning, jumped on social media back in August to slam the SAG-AFTRA dispute, as it adversely affected the new Tron project. Rønning wrote in a post on Instagram:

“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). 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.”

Cameron Monaghan and Evan Peters are also among the newcomers joining the Tron: Ares cast with Leto. At the time of this writing, though, a projected release date does not exist for the Tron sequel.