Exclusive: Tron Live-Action Show In The Works
Today, the movies are being rediscovered on Disney+, making it a perfect time to expand the franchise. Now, a trusted and proven inside source for Giant Freakin Robot has shared that Tron is getting a live-action show.
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Tron, starring Jeff Bridges, first came out in 1982. Its sequel didn’t arrive until 2010. With only two movies, Disney has still built out the franchise with an animated series, comic books, and theme park rides. Today, the movies are being rediscovered on Disney+, making it a perfect time to expand the franchise. Now, a trusted and proven inside source for Giant Freakin Robot has shared that Tron is getting a live-action show. The new series is being developed for streaming on Disney+.
This is exciting news for fans who have stuck with the franchise over the decades, and the many new people who’ve only just discovered the Tron universe. While Tron: Legacy brought in mediocre box office returns, it seems like a ripe franchise for a live-action series, and Disney+ seems like the perfect place to try that out. Disney must be committed to making that happen. Previously, John Ridley, the scriptwriter for 12 Years A Slave was working on a Tron TV series for Disney+. In the middle of 2020, that was announced as scrapped. It seemed like all was lost, but now we’ve learned that they’re developing a new live-action Tron project.
The first movie in 1982 followed Jeff Bridges. The second movie followed his character’s son and also featured Jeff Bridges, making Tron: Legacy a sequel. That movie starred Olivia Wilde and Garrett Hedlund. While fans of the movies may want to see Jeff Bridges, Olivia Wilde, and Garrett Hedlund back in action, we were unable to confirm if the new live-action series includes them or their characters. It seems more likely though that the new series will take place in the same world, but build out the story more. Certainly, there’s a lot of room within the story’s universe for expansion.
In 2012, Disney had an animated series called Tron: Uprising. The show took place between the two films. The main character, voiced by Elijah Wood, was a programmer named Beck who became the unlikely leader of a revolution inside the Grid. The series had 19 episodes. Today, it’s streaming on Disney+, where audiences are rediscovering the cyberpunk world. Since the live-action sequel movie didn’t do great at the box office and it’s been over a decade since its release, it would make sense for the new live-action series to create a fresh story, as the animated show did. Most likely, the new series would follow a new programmer.
This opens up a lot more room for possibilities in storytelling. One of the more important elements for getting the Tron live-action series done well will be the special effects for the cyberpunk world. While characters always matter most, the special effects have made Tron special. That shouldn’t be too much of a problem though. That’s something other Disney+ series haven’t shied away from, so it would seem like they should be ready for that challenge.
With their recently scrapped live-action series behind them, it sounds like Disney is dedicated to making a Tron project happen for Disney+, but they’re waiting to get exactly the right pieces in place this time around.
