Report: Disney Dumped ‘Tron 3’ for Marvel, Star Wars Projects

Almost a decade ago, at this point, Disney fans were expecting to return to The Grid for the third installment of its Tron franchise. But after some anticipating talk, the film never came to fruition, and now it appears we know why.

In an interview with Vulture over his latest success, Top Gun: Maverick, Director Joseph Kosinski (who was set up to direct Tron 3) spoke on the failed launch of a follow-up to Tron: Legacy, stating that when Disney bought Marvel Studios and Star Wars (Lucasfilm), new projects took precedent.

He said:

I got so close. I really tried. I got close in 2015, and Disney pulled the plug on it. I hadn’t built anything, but I had the whole movie storyboarded and written. I was really excited because it was inverting the idea: It was all that stuff coming into our world, and it was about the blending of the two. But it was a different Disney by 2015. When I made Tron: Legacy, they didn’t own Marvel; they didn’t own Star Wars. We were the play for fantasy and science fiction. And once you’ve got those other things under your umbrella, it makes sense that you’re going to put your money into a known property and not the weird art student with black fingernails in the corner — that was Tron. And that’s okay.

Kosinski reconfirmed that the third movie was to be called Tron: Ascension. He went on to film other movies like Only the Brave, and Spiderhead instead.

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At this time, there are no plans for a third Tron movie. The original 1980s cult classic starring Jeff Bridges and its sequel are available for streaming now on Disney+, and construction on the roller coaster TRON: Lightcycle Power Run is underway at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.

We at Disney Fanatic will continue to update our readers on Disney movie news as more developments come to light.