| Tron: Ares | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Joachim Rønning |
| Screenplay by | Jesse Wigutow |
| Story by |
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| Based on | |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Jeff Cronenweth |
| Edited by | Tyler Nelson |
| Music by | Nine Inch Nails |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 119 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $180–220 million[2][3] |
| Box office | $142.2 million[4][5] |
Tron: Ares is a 2025 Americanscience fictionaction film directed byJoachim Rønning and written by Jesse Wigutow, from a story by Wigutow and David DiGilio. It is the third installment in theTron series and sequel toTron: Legacy (2010). The film starsJared Leto,Greta Lee,Evan Peters,Jodie Turner-Smith,Hasan Minhaj,Arturo Castro, andGillian Anderson, withJeff Bridges reprising his role asKevin Flynn from the first two films. The story is aboutartificial intelligence originating from the Grid entering the real world, namely a highly advanced program called Ares.
Development of a sequel toTron: Legacy began in October 2010 by franchise creatorSteven Lisberger. In March 2017,Walt Disney Pictures shifted plans toward a soft reboot with Leto playing a new character.Garth Davis was set as director in August 2020 when Wigutow was working on the script, but stepped down in January 2023. Rønning replaced him a month later. Production was expected to begin in August 2023 but was delayed by the2023 Writers Guild of America andSAG-AFTRA strikes. Filming ultimately began in January 2024 in Vancouver and finished in May. By August, industrial rock bandNine Inch Nails had been announced to be composingthe score. The band's members,Trent Reznor andAtticus Ross, served as executive producers on the film, alongsideLegacy directorJoseph Kosinski.
Tron: Ares premiered inLos Angeles on October 6, 2025, and went into general release on October 10. The film received mixed reviews from critics and was considered abox office disappointment, grossing $142 million worldwide on a production budget of $180–220 million.[6][3]
In 2025, ENCOM and Dillinger Systems are in a race to bring digital constructs into reality. Dillinger Systems is led by Julian Dillinger, former ENCOM executiveEd Dillinger's grandson, and ENCOM is led by Eve Kim. Eve and her partner Seth Flores visit a remote station nearSkagway, Alaska set up by Kevin Flynn decades ago, believing his computers hold the "permanence code" to break the 29-minute barrier holding back the constructs. After finding the code, they transfer a digitalorange tree into the real world, where it lasts indefinitely, even failing to freeze in the frigid weather.
Meanwhile, Julian introduces Ares, a Master Control Program (MCP), to shareholders, calling him the "perfect, expendable soldier". Ares shows self-awareness, such as an interest in real-world phenomena as well as noting Julian's indifference to his survival. After Ares de-materializes, Julian's mother, Elisabeth, expresses concern about the limited lifespan. Julian disregards this and later uses Ares to attack ENCOM's grid for the permanence code. A security fight ensues as Ares downloads Eve's personal data. During their escape, Ares, against his programming, tries saving an injured program, but Julian pulls him out and disables ENCOM's Grid. After being returned to the outside world, Ares is able to track Eve's private jet, after it leaves Skagway.
Eve and Seth return to ENCOM with the permanence code. Their colleague, Ajay Singh, reports Julian's cyberattack, forcing Eve to flee while Julian and Ares track her, with Ares and his second-in-command Athena chasing Eve onLight Cycles. Eve hits Athena and hijacks her Light Cycle, but Ares corners her in a nearby port, where Eve destroys the drive containing the code. As Ares approaches the end of his 29 minute "life-span", he recognizes Eve's empathy towards his plight. As Ares and Athena de-resolve (get "derezzed"), Julian digitizes Eve into the Dillinger Grid.
Julian becomes more determined to retrieve the code. Ares reveals it can be obtained using Eve's identity disc but will kill her as a result; Julian accepts this risk. However, Ares then lies to Athena, claiming that Julian is "indisposed" and attempts to bargain with Eve, asking to achieve permanence in exchange for Eve's freedom. Suspicious of Ares' behavior, Athena contacts Julian and, deciding that Ares is malfunctioning, returns with orders to de-rez Ares. Ares and Eve are able to evade their pursuers and return to Dillinger headquarters.
En route to ENCOM headquarters, Eve and Ares reflect on their motivations, with Ares determining that Eve pursued the Permanence Code out of a sense of inferiority to her sister, who worked on humanitarian projects. Ares continues to show signs of individuality, showing a fondness forDepeche Mode's song "Just Can't Get Enough". Eve realizes a copy of the code might be stored in a museum display at ENCOM of Kevin Flynn's original office. They reunite with Seth to digitize and upload Ares onto Flynn's original grid.[a] Athena destroys the particle laser to trap Ares and then pursues Eve. The sprinkler system activates, and Athena shows a moment of self-awareness before de-materializing. Ajay and his assistant Erin arrive, and Seth and Eve explain their plan to use Athena's own particle laser so they can free Ares and thwart Julian.
Elisabeth retakes the CEO position and she tries turning off the particle lasers, but Athena re-materializes and fatally stabs her, having interpreted her as an obstacle in the directive given by Julian to obtain the code "by any means", before proceeding with her mission. Julian, horrified by Athena's actions, is unable to stop her. On Flynn's grid, Ares encounters an aspect of Flynn, and they discuss Ares's desire for permanence. Intrigued by Ares's wish to live permanently and his internal awareness, Flynn grants Ares the permanence code and sends him to Flynn's Arcade via abackdoor where he re-materializes.
Athena pilots a Recognizer into the city to find Eve, and eventually captures her while the ENCOM staff breach the Dillinger Grid. As Athena prepares to return to Dillinger, Ares intercepts them, engaging Athena and her army. Ajay, Seth, and Erin penetrate and shut down the Dillinger mainframe, preventing any of the Dillinger programs (barring Ares) from re-materializing. A wounded Athena permanently de-materializes in Ares' arms. The police raid the Dillinger headquarters, but Julian uses the laser to digitize himself. Eve and Ares go their separate ways, with ENCOM using the permanence code to benefit the world.
Ares later sends Eve a postcard about his life outside the Grid and plans to find Flynn's son, Sam, and his companion,Quorra.[b] Eve reconstructs the Skagway facility on top of ENCOM tower, including the orange tree. Meanwhile, Julian explores the damaged Dillinger Grid and is transformed by an identity disc that belonged to his grandfather's program,Sark.[a]
Nine Inch Nails membersTrent Reznor andAtticus Ross makecameo appearances as twoF-35 pilots.[11]Shannon Leto, brother of Jared Leto and co-founder ofThirty Seconds to Mars, makes a brief appearance as a pizza parlor patron who witnesses the climax.Garrett Hedlund andOlivia Wilde appear in theirTron: Legacy (2010) roles as Sam Flynn and Quorra through archival photos, and archive audio ofDavid Warner as the original Master Control Program fromTron (1982) is used. ReportersRobin Roberts,Kara Swisher, Curt Sandoval, Jaclyn Lee,Trevor Ault, and Zohreen Shah appear as themselves, as does computer scientistFei-Fei Li.[8]
Development of a directsequel toTron: Legacy was announced in October 2010 by franchise creatorSteven Lisberger, withLegacy screenwritersEdward Kitsis andAdam Horowitz set to return.[12][13] In April 2011, directorJoseph Kosinski stated the script was still in development, and confirmed that the story would continue fromTron: Legacy. He stated that the relationship of the characters ofGarrett Hedlund'sSam Flynn andOlivia Wilde'sQuorra would be "the next step", with the plot following their adventures in the real world.[14] On March 31, 2011, Kosinski said that the film's script was expected to be finished in two weeks and its working title wasTR3N.[15]
In June, it was reported that screenwriter David DiGilio was hired to write the screenplay, as Kitsis and Horowitz had dropped out to develop their television seriesOnce Upon a Time.[16] In March 2012,Bruce Boxleitner stated he believed filming could potentially begin as early as 2014, after Kosinski was available following his commitments to the filmOblivion.[17] In June, Kitsis and Horowitz stated that they were still involved with the project,[18] though by December, Jesse Wigutow had been hired to rewrite the script.[19] That same month, Boxleitner and Hedlund were confirmed to be returning for the sequel.[20]
In March 2015, it was revealed that Disney had officially greenlit the third film with Hedlund, Kosinski and Wilde set to return, and production due to begin in October inVancouver.[21][22][23] In May, it was announced that Disney had scrapped the film,[24][25] Hedlund stated the reason for the cancellation was a result of the box office failure ofTomorrowland.[26] In July, Boxleitner announced the cancellation of the film had ended his interest in returning to the franchise.[27] In September, Hedlund stated he was told that the sequel was not "totally dead", and would be interested in returning should a new film be announced.[28]
In August 2016,Brigham Taylor, then a development executive at Disney, revealed discussions were being had aboutTron's future.[29] In 2017, Kosinski stated that the sequel was in more of a "cryogenic freeze" as opposed to completely cancelled. He attributed Disney's then-recent acquisition ofLucasfilm andMarvel as reasons forTron being put on the backburner.[30] According to producer Justin Springer, the title for the abandoned sequel wasTron: Ascension.[7][31]
In March 2017, it was reported the franchise would be moving towards a soft reboot instead of aLegacy sequel, withJared Leto attached to produce and portray a new character named Ares that was retained from prior iterations of theAscension script.[32] The seeds of the film was traced to a conversation between Springer and Lisberger during development ofLegacy about how the latter came up with the original film, that being how there was an obsession with a first encounter with aliens in the late 1970s and early 1980s when he lived around theMassachusetts Institute of Technology, leading him to wonder what if intelligent life didn't come from outer space but from inside a machine created by people yet not controlled by them. TheAscension script was abandoned, but the filmmakers made a conscious decision to develop some of theAres story from that version, particularly its core concept due to their idea that it remained relevant. They said that since the release ofLegacy, the concept ofAres and its retention of older ideas had become more relevant with each year until its release instead of becoming more dated.[33] In August 2020,Garth Davis was hired to direct the film, with Wigutow still attached to write the screenplay.[34]Patrice Vermette at the time had been hired as production designer.[35]
In March 2022, Leto confirmed that the film was still happening.[36] By January 2023, Davis had exited as director, withJoachim Rønning entering negotiations to take the directing job.[37] Vermette would also depart as production designer.[35] In June,Evan Peters,Greta Lee, andJodie Turner-Smith joined the cast, andJack Thorne was revealed to have written a draft of the script.[38][39][40]Cameron Monaghan andSarah Desjardins would be added the following month.[41][42] In January 2024,Gillian Anderson joined the cast in an undisclosed role.[43]Legacy has teasers, but Rønning confirmed in September 2025 thatJeff Bridges would be the only returning actor from previous films, reprising his role as Kevin Flynn, and he affirmed that neither Hedlund as Sam Flynn orCillian Murphy as Ed Dillinger Jr. would return fromLegacy, both due to creative choices and a lack of interest from the actors' part. Springer also said that "throwing"cameo appearances in like a "parade of people" felt likefan service which would not serve the story, so they opted to only bring back characters in a way that reminded the audience of their love for the franchise, but by surprising them in a way that works.[44] The film is not set to address thecliffhanger ending ofLegacy or the fates of Sam and Quorra, but Springer affirmed that it does not contradict that ending and thatLegacy remainscanon.[33]
The studio planned to add anAI-generatedcharacter that would have been a sidekick to Flynn, a soldier named Bit entering the real world, but the plan was abandoned before filming to avoid potential controversy in the midst ofsocietal andgovernmental issues surrounding theregulation of AI in filmmaking.[45][46] Bit is still present in the final film, portrayed identically to the original Tron, as an object able to speak only "yes" or "no", representing the maximum two states a binary bit of information can hold.
Principal photography was scheduled to begin inVancouver[37] on August 14, 2023, but was postponed indefinitely due to the2023 Writers Guild of America and the2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes.[47][48] Following the conclusion of the strikes in early November 2023, filming was reportedly set to begin in early 2024.[49] In November 2023, it was announced that production on the project would officially begin following the holiday season of the same year.[50] In January 2024, Rønning revealed production had begun,[51] under theworking titleVelcro.[52]Jeff Cronenweth serves as cinematographer.[53] A first look image was released by Disney in February, withHasan Minhaj andArturo Castro added to the cast.[54] Production occurred on theCambie Bridge overnight on March 15.[55] In April,Jeff Bridges, who portrayed Kevin Flynn andClu in the previousTron films, confirmed his involvement in the film.[56] Filmingwrapped on May 1.[57] Jesse Wigutow received sole credit for the film's screenplay, along with a story credit with David Digilio. Off-screen additional literary material credits were attributed toJez Butterworth,Brian Duffield,Justin Haythe,Nicole Holofcener,Tom McCarthy,Megan McDonnell,Jack Thorne,Billy Ray, andLegacy screenwriters Horowitz and Kitsis.[58]
Tyler Nelson serves as the editor.[59] The film'svisual effects were provided byIndustrial Light & Magic (ILM), Distillery VFX,Image Engine,Lola VFX, GMUNK, OPSIS and Imaginary Forces, with David Seager serving as the film's visual effects supervisor.[60]
In 2020, shortly after completing work on the filmSoul,Trent Reznor andAtticus Ross were approached by Tom MacDougall, president ofWalt Disney Music, to work onTron: Ares.[61] In August 2024, it was announcedNine Inch Nails would score the film. The use of the band's name was at Disney's request; the last score released under the Nine Inch Nails moniker was the 1996 videogameQuake.[62][63] The duo had previously composed nineteen film, television, and game soundtracks, which were credited with their own names.[63][64]
Reznor explained that taking the Nine Inch Nails name influenced their approach to scoringTron: Ares, putting them in a "grittier" mindset and allowing them to "play by different rules", something Disney was pleased with.[65] For Rønning, it was important to "contrast The Grid and the real world," and that Nine Inch Nails, anindustrial rock band, "lend itself perfectly into a new, moreindustrialTron."[66] In August 2024, premiering at theD23 event in Anaheim, the special footage forTron: Ares included a remix of the Nine Inch Nails song "Something I Can Never Have".[67][68]
On July 17, 2025, a new single "As Alive as You Need Me to Be" was released, and thesoundtrack album was released on September 19, 2025, byInterscope Records,Walt Disney Records, andThe Null Corporation.[69][70][71] The soundtrack was nominated for the 2025Hollywood Music in Media Award for Best Original Score in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film.[72]
Alongside the Nine Inch Nails score, snippets of songs ("I Know You Can Feel It", "As Alive as You Need Me to Be", and "Who Wants to Live Forever?") and recordings by other artists are also featured inTron: Ares:[73]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion with: cast visiting other press (such asThe Graham Norton Show, where both Lee and Smith went to promote the movie, accompanied withTaylor Swift that lead to their appearance on Swift'sOpalite music video). You can help byadding missing information.(February 2026) |
$102.5 million was spent advertising the film.[3] Bridges, Leto, and the rest of the cast appeared at D23 2024 in Anaheim, where a first look was shown.[76] The same footage was showcased in D23 Brazil 2024.[77] Bridges and Leto also appeared atCinemaCon 2025 to debut new footage for the film, which was subsequently released online as a teaser trailer on April 5 of the same year, along with a teaser poster.[78][79]
In June 2025,TheWrap reported that Disney would be presenting the film atSan Diego Comic-Con's Hall H in July that same year.[80] The official trailer was released on July 17, 2025, accompanied by the new Nine Inch Nails song "As Alive as You Need Me to Be".[81]
In August 2025, it was announced thatMarvel Comics would publishTron: Ares themed variant covers across their October titles, depicting their superhero characters through the lens of the Tron universe.[82] Later that same month, during the 2025 DestinationD23 showcase, it was announced that a new overlay inspired byTron: Ares (featuring red lighting and music by Nine Inch Nails) would be coming toTron Lightcycle Power Run attraction for a limited time beginning on September 15, 2025, at theWalt Disney World Resort and September 16, 2025, at theShanghai Disney Resort.[83]
Tron: Ares was released theatrically on October 10, 2025, including inRealD 3D,4DX,ScreenX,Dolby Cinema, andIMAX.[84][85]Tron: Ares marks the first film in theTron series to be given aPG-13 rating by theMotion Picture Association, after its predecessors were rated PG.[c]
Tron: Ares was released for digital purchase and rental on December 2, 2025, and for4K Ultra HD Blu-ray,Blu-ray, andDVD on January 6, 2026.[87] It was released onDisney+ on January 7, 2026 with the IMAX Enhanced version of the film.[88][89]
In the United States,Tron: Ares toppedFandango at Home's weekly digital sales and rental chart for the week ending December 7, following its premium digital release on December 2. The film remained within the chart's top ten through the week ending January 4.[90] Streaming analytics firm FlixPatrol, which monitors daily updated VOD charts and streaming ratings across the globe, reported thatTron: Ares ranked first or second in nearly every country where Disney+ is available within two days of its debut on the platform.[91] The film subsequently held the top position on Disney+'s global Top 10 list, outperforming titles such as bothAvatar andAvatar: The Way of Water within a week into Disney+ release.[92]
Tron: Ares grossed $73.2 million in the United States and Canada and $69.1 million in other territories for a total of $142.2 million worldwide.[4][5]Deadline Hollywood reported a total cost of $347.5 million, including production and advertising and estimated that it ultimately would lose the studio over $132 million with an estimated box office total gross of $160 million, a figure it ultimately fell short of.[3]
In its worldwide opening weekend,Tron: Ares was projected to gross $45–50 million in the United States and Canada and an additional $40–45 million overseas for a total of $85–95 million.[93][94] The film made $4.8 million from advanced screenings and Thursday night previews.[95] Following its domestic opening day of $14.3 million (including previews), weekend estimates were lowered to $35 million.[96] It debuted to $33.5 million in the U.S. and Canada, leading the domestic box office but falling short ofLegacy's $44 million opening (unadjusted for inflation), and grossed $60 million worldwide.[97][98] In its second weekend, the film dropped 65%, grossing $11 million, finishing second behind newcomerBlack Phone 2.[99]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 53% of 263 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "A sensory feast of vivid neon hues and a hypnotic soundtrack,Tron: Ares is gorgeous to behold but too narratively programmatic to achieve an authentically human dimension."[100]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 48 out of 100, based on 49 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[101] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of B+ on an A+ to F scale, the same grade as its predecessors, and the PostTrak definite recommend score was 57%.[3]
David Rooney, writing forThe Hollywood Reporter, praised Jared Leto's "refreshingly subdued performance" as the eponymous digital program, highlighting how this restrained approach added both an "emotional hook" and an "occasional touch of humor", and commended the film's design for honoring the franchise's roots while taking "significant steps forward".[102] Tara Brady ofThe Irish Times echoed this sentiment, writing thatAres was better than its predecessor, citing the soundtrack and performances (particularly Leto and Lee), but noting that it "could pass for a visual album".[103] In a four-out-of-four-star review,Matt Zoller Seitz ofRogerEbert.com called it "spectacularly designed, swiftly paced, thoughtfully written, and directed within an inch of its neon-hued life".[104] Wendy Ide ofThe Observer explained that "Tron: Ares posits the terrifying possibility that AI may not destroy the human race but could just be really sanctimonious and annoying, with its perfect skin tone and chiselled bone structure and prolonged, meaningful eye contact".[105] Katie Walsh ofChicago Tribune wrote, "Rønning, who helmed a laterPirates of the Caribbean film andYoung Woman and the Sea, provides serviceable direction of the material without offering much innovation. The film loses fidelity toward the end, as it becomes a crashy, pixelated monster movie, as the real world has no capability for hosting the sleek, bloodless appeal of the grid".[106]
John Nugent ofEmpire magazine gave the film three stars out of five, writing that "You'll coo... in the manner of a toddler having some keys jangled at them", and calling it "fun if forgettable futuristic fluff."[107]David Ehrlich ofIndieWire graded the film C+, praising the score by Nine Inch Nails as playing a "pivotal role in giving this sequel its own sense of violent self-identity".[108]Kyle Smith ofTheWall Street Journal stated that "Tron: Ares is essentially a laser-light-show redo of the first twoTerminator movies, with Eve asSarah Connor, minus the suspense, the scares and the witty dialogue".[109]Peter Bradshaw ofThe Guardian gave the film one star out of five, calling it "mind-bendingly dull".[74]Robbie Collin ofThe Telegraph and Clarisse Loughrey ofThe Independent also awarded the film one star.[110][111]
In an October 2025 interview withEntertainment Weekly, Bridges reflected on the film's performance and expressed hope that it would receive a cult following over time.[112]
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