‘Tron: Ares’ – Release Date Revealed & Everything Else We Know About the Sequel
The Jared Leto led Tron: Ares brings the franchise back to the big screen. The sequel will focus on AI and “what it takes to be human.”
The 1982 cult classic stars Jeff Bridges as software developer Kevin Flynn who gets sucked into a game while trying to hack into his former employer’s mainframe. While trapped in the Grid, Flynn has to participate in gladiatorial games in order to survive and have any hope for escape. Its special effects, created by ILM, were cutting-edge at the time. The movie didn’t do well when it hit theaters in 1982, but it became a cult classic in part thanks to the advent of cable.
In 2010, Disney decided to resurrect the universe with slick state-of-the-art CG (again from ILM), the return of Bridges as Flynn, and a killer soundtrack from Daft Punk. Surprisingly, the sequel pulled over $400 million at the box office. Work on a sequel and an animated series that acts as a bridge between the two movies started almost immediately. To fans’ disappointment, the movie never materialized. The animated series was canceled after a season (you can watch it on Disney+ right now).
Tron: Ares
The Tron sequel has been in various states of production and disintegration over the last decade. Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski wrote and storyboarded a sequel that would add a twist to the franchise – bringing the Grid into the real world. He was ready to go around 2015, but priorities shifted to the MCU.
Jared Leto signed on to star and produce in 2017. After long delays, filming started early this year. The story focuses on Ares (played by Leto), a video game character (or Program) from The Grid that crosses over to the human world. The movie’s director said the third TRON is “a movie subsequently about AI and what it means, and takes, to be human.”
Last month Leto shared the first look at his character – and it holds a secret. Some observant fans noted that there’s something very interesting about the disc Ares is carrying. When you zoom in on the high-resolution version of the image, you can see a logo stamped into it… and it’s not Flynn or Tron or ENCOM. It’s Dillinger Systems.
In the first movie, Edward Dillinger is the CEO of ENCOM. He wrote the Master Control Program to steal work from other programmers and reap the benefits. He hid evidence of his scheme in the program, evidence Flynn was able to find by hacking into the Grid.
Dillinger’s son (played by Cillian Murphy) appears in Tron: Legacy, but it doesn’t go much further than a cameo. Based on this hint, it looks like he and the company will be a much bigger part of Tron: Ares. The actor isn’t on the current cast list, so we may be looking at a new character or a re-cast.
Tron: Ares Cast & Premiere Date
The cast also includes Evan Peters, Cameron Monaghan (Gotham), and Sarah Desjardins (The Night Agent). Gillian Anderson, Jodie Turner-Smith (Queen & Slim), and Greta Lee (Past Lives) were recently added in unspecified roles. Joachim Rønning (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) is directing Tron: Ares from a script by Jesse Wigutow and Jack Thorne.
TRON: Ares 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.
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TRON: Ares will debut in theaters on October 10, 2025.
