Three years after Jared Leto's name was attached to a third entry in the TRON franchise, Disney has finally selected MARY MAGDALENE and LION helmer Garth Davis as the director of TRON 3, which is now in development. According to sources, Davis aggressively sought the project despite never having directed a major studio tentpole before. In the end, Davis must have put on one hell of a convincing show, because he's now the mastermind of one of Disney's most anticipated projects.
Neither TRON nor it's sequel TRON LEGACY were box office darlings when initially released, though both films have gained a massive following in the years since. While TRON: LEGACY did have an animated series follow-up, a sequel from director Joseph Kosinski never materialized.
The original 1982 film starring Jeff Bridges told the tale of a computer hacker who is abducted into the digital world and forced to participate in gladiatorial games where his only chance of escape is with the help of a heroic security program. While the story of Tron failed to connect with audiences, there was no denying that the film's special effects were the start of a major sea change for the industry as a whole. Disney later released a sequel, TRON: LEGACY, with Bridges reprising his role and Garret Hedlund and Olivia Wilde joining the high-tech hijinks. While Legacy did go on to earn $400 million at the global box office, Disney was once again underwhelmed with how moviegoers had responded to the movie. Therefore, the studio had placed plans for a third film in the franchise on hold until such a time when they felt confident about bringing the next chapter of Tron to the screen.
To be clear, Disney has yet to give TRON 3 a green-light, though now that Davis is attached, perhaps that's all we need for the House of Mouse to give the visually splendiferous world of Tron another go. Here's hoping for great things!