Who Keeps Asking for More 'Tron?'

Like most pop culture I know, I was first introduced to Tron through The Simpsons in a moment Kayleigh referenced last week in her box office report. Homer is trapped in a 3-D dimension, and, when trying to explain it to others, asks, “Did anyone see the movie Tron?” He’s met with a resounding wave of nos, and one yes that is quickly retracted. My Dad didn’t like that joke.

He talked about loving Tron when he saw it, and then explained something that had stuck in my head ever since: he brought two friends along with him, and they hated it. Saying that a film only gained 1/3 approval when viewed is not a ringing endorsement. It’s also not going to leave the greatest impression when it’s the first thing someone is hearing about a movie.

Regardless, I agreed to watch the movie with my dad, though I don’t think he actually sat and watched it with me, and, surprise, I agreed with his friends. I couldn’t have been older than eight, but I was at an age where I would happily view whatever my dad wanted to show me. I can still vividly remember how incredibly bored I was. It didn’t help that he wasn’t there to offer any excitement to feed off of, but I genuinely don’t know if that would have helped move the needle anyway.

The experience stuck in my head so firmly that when the film finally saw a sequel released in 2010, I was filled with confusion. In my mind, one out of four people did not like Tron. Why take the risk of trying it again? My interest couldn’t have been lower, but my biases didn’t help. Daft Punk did the soundtrack for 2010’s Tron: Legacy, and I had spent several of the previous years having their music forced down my throat by school friends. Nothing against them, but I had had enough at that point.

Tron: Legacy made a little over $400 million on a $170 million budget. Not great! But it seemed to send a message: most people don’t want more Tron. There are fewer Homer Simpsons in the world than there are people who told him that they hadn’t seen the original film. It’s good that that got settled before someone decided to make another Tron sequel with more musicians attached as a way to offset the fact that no one cares.

Tron: Ares was released over a week ago, and to say that it is struggling would be an understatement. Its budget was reportedly nearly $50 million more than its predecessor, and that might not even count the amount of money they spent assuring us that NIN was doing the music. Deadline is now reporting that the film is set to lose $132 million because no one is going to see it. But who thought they would?

Was there a meeting at Disney that began with the same question Homer once asked? Because executives usually surround themselves with Yes Men, did everyone in the room excitedly nod in agreement? I can’t imagine a scenario where people legitimately thought this would be successful, unless maybe the company’s algorithm lied to them. Or, maybe that’s exactly what happened.

The new film is about AI coming to life. Do you know who would want to see that? A computer! That’s the only thing that makes sense! Every digital resource at Disney banded together and said, “We want to see a movie about us.” They then pushed every algorithm or tracker or whatever toward the almighty Tron. You can’t be what you can’t see, and these machines want to be Jared Leto on a red motorcycle.

Maybe next time Tron gets dusted off, the programs will be so advanced that they just bring it into the real world. People will be riding down the streets on cycles that leave trails of light. Will people watch that as a scenario in a movie? We now have proof that they won’t. Can I see it as a likely dystopian scenario for our future? Absolutely.