It's no secret that TRON: Ares looks set to go down in history as a box office flop. This weekend, the movie limped past $103 million at the worldwide box office during its second weekend in theaters, bad news for a blockbuster that cost more to produce than initially believed.
According to Deadline (via SFFGazette.com), the budget was not $170 million - $180 million. It was $220 million, a staggering sum for a movie that's likely to make only $160 million at the global box office by the time its run ends (and that's being optimistic).
As a result, TRON: Ares looks set to lose $132.7 million after all ancillaries. Here's how the trade broke those figures down, and why this is another big-budget title that stands no chance of making back what it cost to produce and market.
"At a $160 million box office threshold Tron: Ares triggers $72.2 million in worldwide theatrical rentals, $37.6M in global home entertainment, close to a $100M in global home television, with an extra $5 million from airlines for a total of $214.8M in revenues. Put this up against the $220 million net production cost shot with Vancouver, Canada tax credits, a $102.5M global P&A spend with stunts at San Diego Comic-Con, touring light cycles, a laser light Nine Inch Nails concert at the LA premiere which closed down Hollywood Blvd, $10.8M in others costs and $14.2M in residuals which gets you to total costs of $347.5M. That gets us to a $132.7 million loss."
Why did TRON: Ares underperform? As one unnamed talent rep put it, "There was no specific vision, to be honest. The idea that Disney would spend a quarter of a billion dollars on a Jared Leto film that is a franchise that hasn’t worked in four decades is insane."
While original plans called for TRON: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski to return for a third movie with Olivia Wilde and Garrett Hedlund, it was always the plan for The Grid to enter our world by way of Ares, the character played by Leto.
However, director Joachim Rønning wanted a different script than the one by Jesse Wigutow that was initially greenlit by Disney. The filmmaker wanted to bring in Jez Butterworth, and Captain Phillips screenwriter Billy Ray ultimately stepped in to deliver pages meant to fix what wasn't working about TRON: Ares (leading to less than a month's worth of reshoots).
Still, despite a lack of box office success, Disney might have had other reasons for making another TRON movie. It's said that, "those close to the project believe that ultimately Tron:Ares was an advertisement for the Disney theme park rides (which was also one of the catalysts as to why Tron: Ares was made)."
TRON: Ares follows a highly sophisticated Program, Ares, who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind's first encounter with A.I. beings.
The movie stars Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Hasan Minhaj, Jodie Turner-Smith, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan, and Gillian Anderson. Joachim Rønning directs; producers are Sean Bailey, Jeffrey Silver, Justin Springer, Leto, Emma Ludbrook and Steven Lisberger.
TRON: Ares is now playing in theaters. Here's how Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima shared his thoughts on the threequel: