Greetings, programs!
One of my favorite films of 2010 was Tron: Legacy, the stylish sequel to the 1982 cult classic Tron by director Joseph Kosinski that no one ever expected to happen. The film had its critics, but still managed to pull in over $400 million worldwide with a reported production budget of $170 million, so a second sequel certainly seemed like a good possibility.
Earlier this week, Tron: Legacy star Garrett Hedlund, who played Kevin Flynn's son Sam, gave an exclusive to NextMovie that he would be reprising the role of Sam Flynn in Tron 3. "Disney's very excited," Hedlund commented on the project. "That's about that. You know, yeah, I'm very excited, Disney's very excited." The article also mentioned that Jesse Wigutow, who wrote the screenplay for Eragon, was in negotiations with Disney to rewrite Tron 3 for a possible production start in 2014.
Meanwhile, Kosinski was interviewed by MTV about the project and gave the following remarks. "We've got an idea for the next movie that's really exciting to me," he said. "I mean, obviously, the only reason to go back would be if we could do something spectacular and really push the ideas forward that we had established in Legacy. We have an idea and an approach and a way into it that I'm really excited about, and now it's about execution on the level of the script. So working hard on that in the background, and hopefully that'll all come together.
"It's still the same plan in that Tron 3 would deliver on the promises set up at the end of Legacy in different ways," continued Kosinski. "You look at what happened in the closing scenes of Legacy. I think it sets a clear direction for what could happen in the next chapter."
Kosinski also played the Star Wars card in seperate interview with Collider, with comparisons to that film series' original trilogy. "I’ve said it would have to be our Empire Strikes Back for me to come back and for me to pull the whole team back together. I think we do have that idea. We do have the idea that feels big and really blows the doors off this franchise. It’s hinted at promises of something for two movies now, for thirty years, so it’s time to deliver on that. But the script’s got to be at a level that makes it worth going back for, because it’s a lot of work to make a movie like this and it’s a multi-year project. So we’ve got our writer Jesse Wigutow on it right now writing, and fingers crossed if it all comes together, as we hope it will, there could be another Tron in the next few years, and it’s going to be awesome."
Concerning the time frame between Legacy and Tron 3, Kosinski remarked, "I think time has passed. It feels like we’re kind of real-time in step. So however much time has passed since Legacy came out would also have transpired in the real world. So it will still be contemporary. So let’s say if the Tron sequel comes out in 2015, then four or five years have passed since the last movie."
One of the highlights of Tron: Legacy was the incredible score by Daft Punk, so the subject of their return naturally came up as well. "When it comes to building the team up for soundtrack they would absolutely be my first call," said Kosinski. "As to whether or not they would do it, it depends on what they’re doing at the time. They are very methodical in how they pick their next project, and they would only do it if they felt that they could dedicate themselves a hundred percent to that. I know they have another album coming out, I’m sure that’s going to be their next big project, which I assume is going to be followed by a massive tour. So, you know, hopefully if they’ve got the time and the creative willingness to dive back in."
Here's hoping the project continues moving forward, preferably without taking another 28 years...
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