ARES crashes with $33.5 million domestically and $60 million at the worldwide box office
A third Tron the film was always going to be a gamble for Disney, and the studio’s decision to return to The Grid after Tron: LegacyThe disappointing box office performance did not pay off.
The latest box office reports are in, and even though Tron: Ares Although it won first place, it only took in $33.5 million from 4,000 North American theaters over the weekend, with an additional $27 million from foreign markets, giving the film a $60 million worldwide opening.
That’s well below initial estimates of $80-90 million, and a disappointing start for a film with a reported budget of $180 million (not including the usual marketing costs).
“The film was doing well, but interest stagnated in the last 10 days and the opening dropped,” says David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research (via Variety). “The sci-fi genre has always worked well overseas. It is an effects-driven, good guys versus bad guys narrative that is understood and appreciated across cultures.”
The mixed critical reception probably didn’t help matters. With 181 reviews counted, Tron: Ares currently sits at 56% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Is this the final nail in the Tron the coffin of the franchise? There’s always a chance that things will improve at the box office over the next few weeks, but it’s hard to imagine Disney putting a fourth film into development after this. Director Joachim Rønning nevertheless hopes to be able to continue the story after the events of Ares‘ post-credits scene.
Spoilers follow.
“If we are lucky enough to be able to continue this story, if enough people watch this version and the next installment, we will be able to answer these questions,” he tells Collider. “It’s kind of part of the journey when you’re trying to land things. So, I can’t sit here and have all the answers for you right now because I’m so immersed in the present, making this movie. For me, it’s like, yeah, we’ll get there. We’ve obviously thought about it, but for me, it was just such an incredible moment to reunite with Sark and be able to, again, just honor the franchise in some way, and the movie original. “
Tron: Ares follows a highly sophisticated program, Ares, who is sent from the digital world to the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humanity’s first encounter with AI beings. The feature film is directed by Joachim Rønning and stars Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan, with Gillian Anderson and Jeff Bridges.
Sean Bailey, Jared Leto, PGA, Emma Ludbrook, PGA, Jeffrey Silver, Justin Springer, PGA and Steven Lisberger are producers, with Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Russell Allen and Joseph Kosinski serving as executive producers. The screenplay is by Jesse Wigutow, with a story by David DiGilio and Wigutow, based on characters created by Steven Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird.
