As quickly as Tron 3 (aka Tron: Ascension) popped up on the radar it’s gone. In late March reports surfaced the Tron: Legacy follow-up would begin shooting in Vancouver from early October thru February, but now The Hollywood Reporter reports Disney has chosen not to move forward with a third installment in the sci-fi series.
The decision comes following the lackluster performance of Brad Bird‘s Tomorrowland, which was budgeted at $190 million and opened to a meager $33 million last weekend. Add to that the recent disappointments such as The Lone Ranger and John Carter and Disney has struggled with big budget blockbusters as of late… at least those that weren’t already established properties (i.e. Marvel) and/or live action fairy tale adaptations.
Tron 3 was expected to move forward with Tron: Legacy helmer Joseph Kosinski returning along with stars Olivia Wilde and Garrett Hedlund and THR reports Jared Leto was even being looked at for a role, but an offer never ended up taking place.
It’s a bit of an unfortunate move considering the end of Legacy and the promise of a much more interesting story was on the horizon, but money talks and when a $170 million film only grosses $400 million worldwide it’s hard for a studio to support another go round, especially when money can be seen elsewhere.
On top of Marvel films as well as the upcoming revival of Star Wars, Disney has The Jungle Book, Alice In Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass, Beauty and the Beast, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and Pixar sequels including Finding Dory and Toy Story 4 on the way. So, in terms of big budget guarantees they are more than satisfied.
