Move over, Daft Punk, because Nine Inch Nails is moving closer to the future of the Tron series, with the industrial band landing scoring duties for the upcoming Tron: Ares.
Even though a lot of their music (the Ghosts albums come to mind) can often play like a soundtrack, Nine Inch Nails has done very little work in that realm, having previously only done the music for video game Quake. With Tron: Ares, Nine Inch Nails will finally give us an idea of all that could have ever been.
Even still, Trent Reznor — who was the sole member of Nine Inch Nails since its inception in 1988 until Atticus Ross officially joined in 2004 — has made an incredibly successful transition from the music studio to the movie studio. With Ross, Reznor first won the Best Original Score Oscar for The Social Network, next nabbing it for Soul (alongside Jon Baptiste). They would lose out on their Mank nomination, but hey, having as many wins as Henry Mancini is definitely a bragging right. Keep in mind that even though Reznor and Ross are the only members of Nine Inch Nails (excluding touring members), they have previously only been credited on the big screen with their actual names. In addition to other works for David Fincher like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Gone Girl, Reznor and Ross also recently did the music for Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All and Challengers. And who can forget being the oddball choices forTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem?!
Samples of the upcoming Nine Inch Nails score for Tron: Ares were featured at this week’s D23 event, which our own Alex Maidy was in attendance for and has been giving us all the updates you need.
As for Tron: Ares itself — which wrapped filming in May — we know that it “follows a highly sophisticated Program, Ares, who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind’s first encounter with A.I. beings.” It is currently slated for release on October 10th, 2025.
Are you excited for Nine Inch Nails to score Tron: Ares? Do you think it can top Daft Punk’s work on Legacy? Hop in that pretty hate machine and let us know your thoughts!