Tron: Ares has had its filming delayed, leading the director to express his frustrations with the length of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
Why has filming on Tron: Ares been delayed?
The Hollywood Reporter noted that director Joachim Rønning took to Instagram to speak about the strike. The director stated that principal photography on the Disney sequel was set to begin yesterday, but that the ongoing strikes have led to an indefinite shut down. Though he agrees that AI needs to be regulated and that conditions need to be fair for everybody, Rønning expresses his wish for the process to “speed up.”
The full statement reads:
“The absolute best moments of my career have been watching an actor perform in front of the camera – taking the scene and the text to a higher place. I’ve been fortunate to collaborate with amazing talent. It’s a huge part of why I’m a filmmaker. However, like myself, being an actor or a writer, means you’re a freelancer. And I can tell you, the constant uncertainty is not for everyone. To that end I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask for a better safety net.
“Many of my best friends are writers. Everything starts with the story. Everything starts with you. That must continue. And that means that AI needs to be regulated. There is no doubt about the threat the technology poses to all creatives. Today was supposed to be our first day of principal photography on TRON: ARES (a movie subsequently about AI and what it means, and takes, to be human). Instead, we are shut down with over a hundred and fifty people laid off. It’s indefinite, which makes it exponentially harder for everyone.
“The AMPTP, SAG-AFTRA and WGA need to speed up the negotiating process and not leave the table until it’s done. This is Hollywood. We close deals for breakfast. Why do we suddenly have all the time in the world when every day is so precious? These tactics are extremely frustrating. It’s time for diplomacy so we can get back to work – under conditions that are fair to everybody.”
Tron: Ares will be directed by Joachim Rønning (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil) from a screenplay written by Jesse Wigutow and Jack Thorne. Jared Leto will play the titular character — a manifestation of a program that becomes sentient and crosses over into the human world.
The film is produced by Emma Ludbrook, Jeffrey Springer, and Leto. Russell Allen will serve as an executive producer.
The 1982 original centered on Jeff Bridges’ Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer transported into a fantastical virtual world and enlisted to topple an evil AI regime. Over three decades later, the film was followed by the Joseph Kosinski-helmed sequel Tron: Legacy, which starred Garett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, James Frain, Beau Garrett and Michael Sheen.
