Mary Gilmore, Staff Writer
The third installment of the Tron movie series is getting a sequel over 40 years after the original was released. The new movie titled, Tron: Ares, is set to be released on October 10, 2025.
The Tron saga began in 1982 with the original movie. Tron was a film that brought audiences into the digital world before the digital age was even mainstream. That movie followed Kevin Flynn who was a gifted programmer that got trapped within his own computer system called the Grid. In the movie, he battles programs and aids Tron in restoring order within the Grid.
Nearly three decades later, Tron: Legacy came out in 2010. The sequel introduced Sam Flynn, Kevin’s son, who enters the Grid to find his long-lost father. This film added characters like Quorra, who is a self-generating program. CLU is also introduced and is a corrupted version of Kevin Flynn.
Now, Tron: Ares is set to be released. This film is not planned to be a direct sequel, but rather a reboot of the Tron themes. Unlike the previous films that explored humans entering the digital realm, Tron: Ares flips the script. The story follows Ares, a highly sophisticated program, sent from the digital world into the real one. His mission is to permanently make the human world his own.
Star of the follow-up film, Garrett Hedlund, told Collider in 2024 that he was looking forward to what’s in store for Ares, saying, “I’m very excited for Tron: Ares coming to fruition.” He continued, “I’m very excited about what that’s gonna bring not only the Tron fan base, but the world of The Grid.”
Kevin Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges, will be returning in the new film. While Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde aren’t confirmed to reprise their roles, Hedlund has hinted that fans might not have seen the last of Sam and Quorra. Bruce Boxleitner, the original Tron, is also not said to be in the film. This suggests a movie based around the evolution of the Grid as compared to the nostalgia of Tron.
Tron: Ares is being released just two years after the Tron Lightcycle ride opened in Walt Disney World. This ride is a copy from Shanghai Disneyland, where Tron Lightcycle opened on June 16, 2016. The ride brings riders into the world of Tron, inviting them to mount on futuristic motorbikes and lean forward into the Tron racing stance. This ride puts guests headfirst into action, enhancing the speed of the rollercoaster.
On the Disney World ride, Tron: Ares has a feature for a limited-time overlay. It transforms the traditionally blue-tinted attraction into a red and orange race. This feature includes movie-inspired lighting and music from Nine Inch Nails, creating an immersive experience.
Leave a Reply