“Tron: Ares” is on the horizon.
The third film in the “Tron” franchise, which began way back in 1982, arrives next year, with Jared Leto as a program named Ares who finds himself in the real world.
If you’re unfamiliar with the “Tron” franchise or just want to know more about one of Disney’s biggest movies of 2025, read on to find out everything we know about “Tron: Ares.” Throw on Journey’s “Separate Ways.” Prepare to be digitized. Here we go.
When is the release date?
“Tron: Ares” arrives in theaters Oct. 10, 2025. We imagine it will be in premium format theaters. You’ll want to see this one big – and loud.
Who’s in the cast?
In addition to Leto as Ares, the cast of “Tron: Ares” also includes Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Hasan Minaj, Jodie Turner-Smith, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan, Gillian Anderson and, of course, Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, the creator of the computerized world of Tron.
Who is doing the music?
Following in the footsteps of electronic music pioneer Wendy Carlos and French duo Daft Punk (nee Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo), the music for “Tron: Ares” will be provided by composers and Nine Inch Nails principals Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Reznor and Ross have provided iconic scores for movies like “The Social Network,” “Soul,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” and, most recently, Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers.”
What is “Tron 3” about?
According to Disney’s official synopsis, “Tron: Ares” “follows a highly sophisticated Program, Ares, who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind’s first encounter with A.I. beings.”
Director Joachim Rønning, who takes over for director Joseph Kosinski, said in an official statement, “Now more than ever, it feels like the right time to return to the Grid.” Rønning is a Disney regular who has also directed “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,” “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” and “Young Woman and the Sea” for the studio.
How does “Tron: Ares” connect to the earlier films?
It’s too early to tell how the new movie connects to the earlier films. “Tron: Ares” was initially developed by Kosinski as a more straightforward sequel to “Tron: Legacy.” (Kosinski’s sequel got close to filming – both in 2012 and again in 2015. Both were shuttered fairly late in the game.) The Ares character was part of Kosinski’s version, so it will be interesting to see if there are more connections to “Tron: Legacy.” But obviously the biggest connection between “Tron: Ares” and the earlier films is the involvement of Jeff Bridges, who was introduced in 1982’s “Tron” as Sam Flynn, a brilliant video game designer who created an entire digital world. In the sequel, he had been missing, gone inside his own creation, in a world lorded over my Flynn’s avatar Clu. Both were seemingly destroyed in the climactic final moments of “Tron: Legacy.” But clearly at least one of them survived.
Besides the movies, is there any other “Tron” material we should keep in mind?
“Tron: Uprising,” an original animated series set within the world of “Tron,” is very good and an essential piece of “Tron” text. (It’s available on Disney+ right now.) There are also plenty of comics, novels and video games that help flesh out the world, although none are as essential as the animated series. Also, there is Tron: Lightcycle Run, an attraction at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom theme park and Shanghai Disneyland (where it’s their version of Space Mountain). Why not take it for a whirl before October 2025?
