Disney Pulls Plug on 'Tron 3'

By Rebecca Ford

Tron 3 won’t be coming to a theater near you.

Disney has chosen not to move forward with a third installment in the sci-fi series, sources say. While sources say the project was never officially greenlit, earlier this year it seemed that things were moving ahead with Tron: Legacy helmer Joseph Kosinski returning to direct and stars Olivia Wilde and Garrett Hedlund reprising their roles.

Prep had been started on the third film, and production was looking to shoot this fall, likely in Vancouver, British Columbia. Disney had been interested in adding Jared Leto to the cast, but an offer and negotiations had never commenced.

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Disney has been developing a sequel to Tron: Legacy since the movie, made for $170 million, grossed $400 million worldwide. Legacy was the sequel to the 1982 sci-fi film that took place inside a computer world known as the Grid and starred Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner. The film drew a big cult following and became a notable influence on filmmakers and pop culture.

Decades later, Disney revisited the world with Legacy. The story revealed that the computer-programmer character played by Bridges had a son (Hedlund) who jumped into the Grid to find his father. Wilde was Quorra, an algorithm-made-flesh who also happened to kick butt.

Disney has had strong success with its live-action properties recently, including Maleficent and this year’s Cinderella, which earned $527.4 million worldwide. But it recently had a stumble with the $180 million live-action film Tomorrowland, which underperformed at the box office this past weekend with a $33 million U.S. debut.

Disney’s live-action tentpole calendar is pretty full for the next few years, with live-action versions of many of its animated classics in the works including The Jungle Book, Alice: Through the Looking Glass and Beauty and the Beast.