Tron: Legacy
Tron: Legacy (stylized as TRON: Legacy) is a 2010 American science fiction action film directed by Joseph Kosinski from a screenplay by Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis, based on a story by Horowitz, Kitsis, Brian Klugman, and Lee Sternthal. It serves as a sequel to Tron (1982), whose director Steven Lisberger returned to co-produce. The cast includes Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner reprising their roles as Kevin Flynn and Alan Bradley, respectively, as well as Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, James Frain, Beau Garrett, and Michael Sheen. The story follows Flynn's adult son Sam, who responds to a message from his long-lost father and is transported into a virtual reality called "the Grid", where Sam, his father, and the algorithm Quorra must stop the malevolent program Clu from invading the real world.
This article is about the film. For the soundtrack album, see Tron: Legacy (soundtrack).Tron: Legacy
- Edward Kitsis
- Adam Horowitz
- Brian Klugman
- Lee Sternthal
- Sean Bailey
- Jeffrey Silver
- Steven Lisberger
- Walt Disney Pictures[1]
- Sean Bailey Productions[2]
- November 30, 2010 (Tokyo)
- December 17, 2010 (United States)[3]
125 minutes[4]
United States
English
$400.1 million[6]
Interest in creating a sequel to Tron arose after the film garnered a cult following. After much speculation, Walt Disney Pictures began a concerted effort in 2005 to devise a sequel, with the hiring of Klugman and Sternthal as writers. Kosinski was recruited as director two years later. As he was not optimistic about Disney's The Matrix-esque approach to the film, Kosinski filmed a concept trailer, which he used to conceptualize the universe of Tron: Legacy and convince the studio to greenlight the film. Principal photography took place in Vancouver over 67 days, in and around the city's central business district. Most sequences were shot in 3D and ten companies were involved with the extensive visual effects work. Chroma keying and other techniques were used to allow more freedom in creating effects. Daft Punk composed the musical score, incorporating orchestral sounds with their trademark electronic music.[7]
Tron: Legacy premiered in Tokyo on November 30, 2010, and was released in the United States on December 17, by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Disney vigorously promoted the film across multiple media platforms, including merchandising, consumer products, theme parks, and advertising. Upon its release, the film received mixed reviews from critics, who criticized the story and character development, but praised the performances of Bridges and Sheen, the visual effects, production design, and soundtrack. It was a commercial success, grossing $400 million during its worldwide theatrical run against a $170 million production budget. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound Editing at the 83rd Academy Awards, but lost to Inception. Like its predecessor, Tron: Legacy has been described as a cult film. A standalone sequel, Tron: Ares, is scheduled to be released on October 10, 2025.[8][9]
Plot[edit]
In 1989, Kevin Flynn, who was promoted to CEO of ENCOM International seven years earlier,[N 1] disappears. Twenty years later, his son Sam, now ENCOM's primary shareholder, pranks the corporation by releasing the company's signature operating system online for free. ENCOM executive Alan Bradley, Flynn's old friend, approves of this, believing it aligns with Flynn's ideals of free software. Nonetheless, Sam is arrested for trespassing.
Alan posts bail for Sam and tells him of a pager message originating from Flynn's shuttered video arcade. There, Sam discovers a hidden basement with a large computer and laser, which suddenly digitizes and downloads him into the Grid, a virtual reality created by Flynn. He is captured and sent to "the Games", where he must fight a masked computer program named Rinzler. When Sam is injured and bleeds, Rinzler realizes Sam is human, or a "User". He takes Sam to Clu, the Grid's corrupt ruling program, who resembles a young Kevin.
Clu nearly kills Sam in a Light Cycle match, but Sam is rescued by Quorra, an "apprentice" of Flynn, who shows him Flynn's hideout outside Clu's territory. Flynn explains that he had been working to create a "perfect" computer system and had appointed Clu and security program Tron as its co-creators. The trio discovered a species of naturally occurring "isomorphic algorithms" (ISOs), with the potential to resolve various natural mysteries. Clu, considering them an aberration, betrayed Flynn, killed Tron, and destroyed the ISOs. The "Portal" permitting travel between the two worlds closed, leaving Flynn trapped in the system. Clu sent the message to Alan hoping to lure him into the Grid (though Sam serves his purpose just as well) and reopen the Portal for a limited time. Since Flynn's "identity disc" is the master key to the Grid and the only way to traverse the Portal, Clu expects Sam to bring Flynn to the Portal so he can take Flynn's disc, go through the Portal himself, and impose his idea of perfection on the human world.
Against his father's wishes, Sam returns to Clu's territory to find Zuse, a program who can provide safe passage to the Portal. At the End of Line Club, the owner reveals himself to be Zuse, then betrays Sam to Clu's guards. In the resulting fight, Flynn rescues his son, but Quorra is injured and Zuse gains possession of Flynn's disc. Zuse attempts to bargain with Clu over the disc, but Clu betrays him and destroys the club along with Zuse. Flynn and Sam stow away aboard a "Solar Sailer" transport program, where Kevin restores Quorra and reveals her to be the last surviving ISO.
The transport is intercepted by Clu's warship. As a diversion, Quorra allows herself to be captured by Rinzler, whom Flynn recognizes as Tron, not killed by Clu but rather reprogrammed. Sam reclaims Flynn's disc and rescues Quorra, while Flynn takes control of a Light Fighter. Clu, Rinzler, and several guards pursue the trio in Light Jets. Rinzler remembers his past as Tron and deliberately collides with Clu's Light Jet, then falls into the Sea of Simulation below. Clu confronts the others at the Portal, but Flynn reintegrates with his digital duplicate, destroying Clu along with himself. Quorra – having switched discs with Flynn – gives Flynn's disc to Sam, and they escape together to the real world as the ensuing explosion from Flynn's sacrifice levels the Sea of Simulation. In Flynn's arcade, Sam backs up and deactivates the system. He then tells a waiting Alan that he plans to retake control of ENCOM, naming Alan chairman of the board. Sam departs on his motorcycle with Quorra who, then, witnesses her first real sunrise.
Beau Garrett appears as Gem, one of four programs known as Sirens. The Sirens operate the Grid's game armory, equipping combatants with the armor needed to compete in the games, while also reporting to Castor.[26][27] Serinda Swan, Yaya DaCosta, and Elizabeth Mathis depict the other three Sirens.[28] Jeffrey Nordling stars as Richard Mackey, the chairman of ENCOM's executive board, and Cillian Murphy makes an uncredited appearance as Edward Dillinger, Jr., the head of ENCOM's software design team and the son of former ENCOM Senior Executive Ed Dillinger portrayed by David Warner in the original film.[29] Daft Punk, who composed the score for the film, cameo as disc jockey programs at Castor's End of Line Club, and Tron creator Steven Lisberger makes an appearance as Shaddix, a bartender in the End of Line Club.[19][30]
Production[edit]
Background[edit]
Steven Lisberger relocated to Boston, Massachusetts, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the 1970s to pursue a career in computer animation.[31] Since the computer animation field was mainly concentrated in Los Angeles, Lisberger had very little competition operating on the East Coast: "Nobody back then did Hollywood stuff, so there was no competition and no one telling us that we couldn't do it."[31] He later produced and directed the American science fiction film Tron (1982) for Walt Disney Productions, the first computer animation-based feature film.[31] Although the film garnered some critical praise,[32][33] it generated only modest sales at the box office — the cumulative North American gross was just $33 million. Producer Sean Bailey, who saw the film with his father and Lisberger, was captivated by the finished product.[31] Although Tron performed below Disney studio's expectations,[31] it later developed a cult following, which fueled speculation of Pixar's alleged interest in creating a sequel, in 1999.[34] Rumors of a Tron sequel were further ignited after the 2003 release of the first-person shooter video game, Tron 2.0. Lisberger hinted that a third installment could be in the works, depending on the commercial success of the game.[35]
Marketing[edit]
Marketing and promotions[edit]
On July 21, 2009, several film-related websites posted they had received via mail a pair of "Flynn's Arcade" tokens along with a flash drive. Its content was an animated GIF that showed CSS code lines. Four of them were put together and part of the code was cracked, revealing the URL to Flynnlives.com,[86] a fictitious site maintained by activists who believe Kevin Flynn is alive, even though he has been missing since 1989. Clicking on a tiny spider in the lower section of the main page led to a countdown clock that hit zero on July 23, 2009, 9:30 pm PDT. Within the Terms of Use Section, an address was found. It lies in San Diego, California, US near the city's convention center where the Comic-Con 2009 took place and some footage and information on the sequel was released. Flynn's Arcade was re-opened at that location, with several Space Paranoids arcade machines and a variety of '80s video games. A full-size light cycle from the new film was on display.[87]
A ninth viral site, homeoftron.com, was found. It portrays some of the history of Flynn's Arcade as well as a fan memoir section.[88] On December 19, 2009, a new poster was revealed, along with the second still from the film.[89] Banners promoting the film paved the way to the 2010 Comic-Con convention center, making this a record third appearance for the film at the annual event.[90]
Disney also partnered with both Coke Zero and Norelco on Tron: Legacy.[91][92] Disney's subsidiary Marvel Comics had special covers of their superheroes in Tron garb,[93] and Nokia had trailers for the film preloaded on Nokia N8 phones while doing a promotion to attend the film's London premiere.[94] While Sam picks up a can of Coors in the film, it was not product placement, with the beer appearing because Kosinski "just liked the color and thought it would look good on screen."[95]
Release[edit]
Premiere and theaters[edit]
On October 28, 2010, a 23-minute preview of the film was screened on many IMAX theaters all over the world, (presented by ASUS). The tickets for this event were sold out within an hour on October 8. Stand-by tickets for the event were also sold shortly before the presentation started. Original merchandise from the film was also available for sale.[115] Announced through the official Tron Facebook page, the red carpet premiere of the film was broadcast live on the Internet.[116] Tron: Legacy was released in theaters on December 17, 2010, in the United States and United Kingdom. The film was originally set to be released in the UK on December 26, 2010, but was brought forward due to high demand. The film was presented in IMAX 3D and Disney Digital 3D. The film was also released with D-BOX motion code in select theaters and released in 50 Iosono-enhanced cinemas, creating "3D sound."[117]
On December 10, 2010, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, a special premiere was hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos organised through Twitter, open to the first 100 people who showed up at the CN Tower. After the film ended the tower was lit up blue to mirror The Grid.[118] On December 13, 2010, in select cities all over the United States, a free screening of the entire film in 3D was available to individuals on a first-come, first-served basis. Free "Flynn Lives" pins were handed out to the attendees. The announcement of the free screenings was made on the official Flynn Lives Facebook page.[119] On January 21, 2011, the German designer Michael Michalsky hosted the German premiere of the film at his cultural event StyleNite during Berlin Fashion Week.[120]
Home media release[edit]
Tron: Legacy was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on Blu-ray Disc, DVD, and digital download in North America on April 5, 2011.[85][121] Tron: Legacy was available stand-alone as a single-disc DVD, a two-disc DVD and Blu-ray combo pack, and a four-disc box set adding a Blu-ray 3D and a digital copy. A five-disc box set featuring both Tron films was also released, entitled The Ultimate Tron Experience, having a collectible packaging resembling an identity disk.[122] The digital download of Tron: Legacy was available in both high definition or standard definition, including versions with or without the digital extras.[121]
A short film sequel to the film, Tron: The Next Day, as well as a preview of the 19-episode animated series Tron: Uprising, is included in all versions of the home media release. Tron: Legacy was the second Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment release that included Disney Second Screen, a feature accessible via a computer or iPad app download that provides additional content as the user views the film.[123] Forty minutes of the film were shot in 2.39:1 and then vertically enhanced for IMAX.[58] These scenes are presented in 1.78:1 in a similar way to the Blu-ray release of The Dark Knight.[124]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
Leading up to the release, various commercial analysts predicted that Tron: Legacy would gross $40–$50 million during its opening weekend,[125] a figure that Los Angeles Times commentator Ben Fritz wrote would be "solid but not spectacular."[126] Although the studio hoped to attract a broad audience, the film primarily appealed to men: "Women appear to be more hesitant about the science-fiction sequel," wrote Fritz.[126] Jay Fernandez of The Hollywood Reporter felt that the disproportionate audience would be problematic for the film's long term box office prospects.[125] Writing for Box Office Mojo, Brandon Gray attributed pre-release hype to "unwarranted blockbuster expectations from fanboys," given the original Tron was considered a box office success when it was released, and the film's cult fandom "amounted to a niche."[127]
In North America, the film earned $43.6 million during the course of its opening weekend.[128] On its opening day, it grossed $17.6 million, including $3.6 million during midnight showings from 2,000 theaters, 29% of which were IMAX screenings,[129] and went on to claim the top spot for the weekend, ahead of Yogi Bear and How Do You Know, making $44 million.[128] Tron: Legacy grossed roughly $68 million during its first week,[130] and surpassed $100 million on its 12th day in release.[131]
Outside North America, Tron: Legacy grossed $23 million on its opening weekend, averaging $6,000 per theater.[132] According to Disney, 65% of foreign grosses originated from five key markets; Japan, Australia, Brazil, United Kingdom, and Spain.[132] The film performed the best in Japan, where it took $4.7M from 350 theaters.[132] Australia ($3.4M), the United Kingdom ($3.2M), Brazil ($1.9M), and Spain ($1.9M).[132] By the following week, Tron: Legacy obtained $65.5 million from foreign markets,[133] bringing total grosses to $153.8 million.[133] At the end of its theatrical run, Tron: Legacy had grossed $400.1 million; $172.1 million in North America, and $228 million in other countries.[6]