Disney took a third bite at the apple this past weekend with a third Tron movie. It’s a franchise that has always struggled, and yet always found a way to make it to audiences. Unfortunately, he new film failed to find an audience. While Ares won the weekend, it did so with an anemic $36 million domestic, nearly $10 million less than the previous film in the franchise did 15 years ago.
As is always the case with blockbusters that fail to become smash hits, many are asking why, and a lot of the blame is being heaped on star Jared Leto. THR questions whether Leto, who previously led the Spider-Verse movie Morbius to a meme-worthy level of box office bomb, will be leading major franchise films after Ares. However, one talent agency partner suggests the issue with the film was more fundamental, saying…
You could have had Ryan Gosling, it wasn’t going to work. No one asked for this reboot. If you say, ‘Tron: Ares is good, we just needed a different actor,’ you’re deluding yourself.
The question of whether Tron: Ares might have succeeded if any specific detail had been different is likely exactly the question that Disney is discussing in meetings right now. While it’s impossible to know if people stayed away from the theater on opening weekend because of Leto, it’s difficult not to argue that he didn’t bring an audience into the theater.
That said, there’s plenty of reason not to blame Jared Leto entirely for Ares' status as a flop. First and foremost is the fact that Tron, despite looking like a massive sci-fi blockbuster, has never put up box office numbers. The first Tron movie, while praised for its technological innovation, had similar trouble finding an audience in 1982. In 2010, Tron: Legacy was a modest hit, grossing $400 million worldwide, a number that wasn’t bad but still wasn’t enough to get its own sequel a green light.
The quote above, for what it’s worth, is almost certainly correct, however you look at it. Ryan Gosling’s last movie, The Fall Guy, was much more popular with critics than Tron: Ares, but it also stalled at the box office. Clearly, Gosling on his own can’t save the fate of a film either.
Of course, in Hollywood, perception is reality, and so the question likely isn’t whether or not Leto is to blame for the poor box office, so much as do studios believe Leto is to blame, because if they do, these major roles may dry up. Jared Leto’s appearance at the front of a major franchise isn’t done. He’s already filmed his role as Skeletor in the upcoming Masters of the Universe movie. What happens after that, however, is anybody’s guess.
As somebody who considers himself a fan of the Tron franchise, but who didn’t love Ares as much as I had wanted to, the real frustration is that another rough go at the box office almost certainly means another extended hiatus for the Tron franchise. Maybe in 15 or 20 years, Disney will try again, but the two different teases we got for potential sequels will likely not come to pass.
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