Amph END OF LINE: TRON, Uprising, Legacy & Ares

It probably depends on how much Tron 3 will be based on any outlines by the director/writers of Legacy/Uprising. We know they want to set up characters that were only briefly mentioned or seen in Legacy (Beck is presumably "the sympathetic program" that smuggles Quorra out during the purge, and they've already mentioned wanting to show where Bartik got his facial scar from), so threads for Tron 3 are possible.

However, given they may not have locked down an actual direction to take a sequel in yet at the time they wrote the series, any threads may just end up being retroactive (ie: Tron 3 referencing stuff from Uprising as opposed to Uprising setting up stuff in Tron 3).

 

Boxleitner updates on Tron 3

"Asked about his exact role on the animated series, Boxleitner happily replied, "Who else would I be? I'm Tron. It's going to be on my gravestone, 'He was Tron.'""



Looks like Bruce anticipates them aiming for 2014, after the director finishes his current project (though it's a shame the same writers are unable to be involved due to the success of Once Upon a Time- I would have preferred that consistent voice to hopefully help recapture what made Legacy so amazing).

I also didn't realize that Legacy was the highest grossing debut film in history.

Lastly, Tronp: Japanese Tron Musical

 

I wasn't too concerned about the slow amount of news- I think it's pretty obvious Disney is waiting to see how well Uprising does. If Uprising does well, then it's clear their franchise building efforts were successful and they can push more aggressively with Tron 3, if Uprising does only ok, then they'll probably be more leisurely about the Tron series.

 

I haven't watched it with an regularity, but I think Disney XD is the one that has more action-related stuff like the Marvel shows, which might make it a bit more bareable than the typical Disney fare found on their regular station.

Also, it looks like Oblivion, directed by Legacy's director, was moved up next year a couple months in release, so that's another factor coming into play earlier that might help get Legacy rolling quicker.

 

The series was already in development (and far enough along for a teaser trailer) while the film was still in theaters and hadn't even broken even domestically yet. Unlike a lot of other movies (like John Carter, for example), a lot of the marketing costs associated with Legacy were justified versus the box office due to the franchise building they were doing with extrafilm content- the toys, elecTRONica, Uprising, etc.

If those didn't perform, it would reflect poorly on Legacy's sequel chances beyond the film itself.

But, the toys sold very well, elecTRONica apparently did well and if Disney can tap the 3-10 year olds with Uprising that shows like The Clone Wars have, on top of the expanded audience of the film itself from the great video sales, the sequel will have an even larger built-in audience to build off of. They'll be more inclined to go "let's try to vash in on this momentum sooner rather than later".

On the flipside, if Uprising doesn't do well, Disney may see that as disinterest in the property and not be a rush to push for a sequel (especially with the changing of execs in power at the Mouse House following the Mars Needs Moms & John Carter debacles- in other words, those that previously favored Tron might no longer be around).

 

Could Jeff Bridges be in Tron 3 after all?

Even though Tron Legacy wasn't the massive blockbuster hit Disney expected, it did make enough money to warrant Tron 3. So what happens next? While at WonderCon promoting their television show Once Upon A Time, Tron Legacy scribes Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz dropped a few hints for Tron 3.

Spoilers ahead...

From the Once Upon A Time roundtables:

After the experience of working on Tron: Legacy, it seems like the movie did well, and made money. But maybe it didn't quite do well enough to get its own sequel. But it did well enough to get its own cartoon series, is that frustrating at all?

Adam Horowitz: We are working on a sequel. Eddie and I aren't writing the sequel ? because of the show [Once Upon a Time] we've moved to be co-producers on it. But there's a script being written right now.

Edward Kitsis: Dave DiGilio is writing it. Joe [Kosinski] is right now shooting Oblivion but we've had a lot of meetings and conversations and we've sen the first draft of the Tron sequel, sometimes movies don't happen as quickly as you want... Our hope is to get something going sooner [rather than later].

In your opinion are Tron and Jeff Bridges dead, are they in Tron [3]?

Horowitz: I would say the definition of life and death in the digital realm...

Kitsis: Will be explored in the sequel!

How big of a part does Quorra have in the sequel?

Horrowitz: Mmm. *Darts away to the next roundtable*

 

So, Uprising's season continued tonight. Not their best episode, but still pretty good. I suppose the false accusation here will contribute to Hopper and Bartik joining one of the resistance cells eventually (though not right away yet, as we saw).

The stuff with Pavel's plotting is an interesting element- I suppose the Pieces of Power he has will play into that (he still has those right? or did he lose them before the break and I'm forgetting?).

Next week begins the "Scars" 2-parter. That title suggests some important events about to transpire.

And, on a sidenote, my Legacy easter egg guide video should hopefully be done sometime in the next week. Been working on it here and there since the Blu-Ray came out.

 

CNN article on the series and the franchise's influence.

"Outside the world of animation, Boxleitner hopes for more live-action "Tron" -- with one stipulation.

"It's my motivation to find a young Tron. I can't fit in those tights. Tron's a young man's game!""

 

Not to mention they've already CGId the young Bruce for Legacy. All they need to do is keep the actor who played Rinzler and Mocap Bruce for any unhelmeted scenes.

(in fact, it'd make no sense for them not to keep the same actor)

And they could always come up with a reason for him to stay helmeted most of the time, if they want to limit the budget impact of those Mocap effects.

 

Yeah, I think to reconcile everything, one just has to assume the Rinzler bad-disk noises we hear in Legacy are just a result of the initial damage Clu inflicted... and everything else just fits inbetween somehow. This Scars 2-parter will no doubt bridge that.

 

Part 1 was very, very good. Loved the flashbacks and how they used the music from the film. Also- John Glover? Can this cast get any more awesome?

 

It'd be a nice nod to the original film to include Yori somehow... but I don't think Uprising is the best setting to include her. Tron needs to be isolated, beyond Beck. Bringing Yori into it now would be a bit pointless, especially since he's on his way to becoming Rinzler- and once he's Rinzler, there's no narrative point to having Yori (unless Rinzler kills her) since it would go unresolved until Tron 3 (if the film even addresses the point).

So, unless it was a flashback, I don't know if there'd be room for her. Better to save her for Tron 3 somehow (besides, Lora was more interesting/useful than Yori anyways- I'd rather have Lori back with Alan in the real world scenes than Yori with Tron in the Gird scenes).

My guess is that either Clu or Tesler (under Clu's orders) threw the first disc during the riot- but Tesler would make the most sense, given that he's been the focus of the series and we had him hunting ISOs during the Quorra flashbacks a few episodes ago.

Seeing the coup go down from a different perspective was very neat, though- you kinda forget that they were standing a good bit away from each other when that seemingly-innocuous question by Clu gets thrown down.

Also neat to see Flynn's arrival on the Grid at the Grid Arcade (though if that sucker lights up like that on arrival [which, granted, makes sense, given how much light the exit portal gives off], makes one wonder why no one noticed Sam's arrival/why Clu & co. didn't definitely know a User had arrived), though this is the first time we've seen him without the jacket and in a full light suit.

 

Interesting conclusion.Love Dyson's yo-yo of doom.

Spoiler

Glad that Dyson isn't a one-off character. Have we met Silas before?

"THAT REALLY HURT!"