TRON: ARES Shuts Down in Vancouver Before it Starts – Laying Off 150
Disney’s big-budget movie Tron: Ares with Jared Leto had expected to start filming in metro Vancouver on Monday but production is shut down, with over 150 people laid off.
Why? Because of the breakdown in contract talks between the 8 studios/streamers which comprise the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers and the Hollywood writers and performers guilds – which led to strike action first by the Writers Guild of America and then by SAG-AFTRA.
Tron 3 focuses on Jared Leto’s character Ares, an emerging sentient program that crosses over into the human world but is not ready for contact.
[Monday]was supposed to be our first day of principal photography on TRON: ARES (a movie . . . about AI and what it means, and takes, to be human). Instead, we are shut down with over a hundred and fifty people laid off. It’s indefinite, which makes it exponentially harder for everyone. — director Joachim Rønning wrote on his Instagram.
The AMPTP, SAG-AFTRA and WGA need to speed up the negotiating process and not leave the table until it’s done. This is Hollywood. We close deals for breakfast. Why do we suddenly have all the time in the world when every day is so precious? These tactics are extremely frustrating. It’s time for diplomacy so we can get back to work – under conditions that are fair to everybody. — director Joachim Rønning wrote on his Instagram.
Related: Tron: Ares With Jared Leto Has Summer/Fall Filming Dates in Vancouver
Tron 3:
Vancouver filming dates: August 14 2023 – December 16 2023.
Working title: Velcro / Lumen.
Writer: Jesse Wigatow
Director: Joachim Rønning (Maleficent: Mistress of Evil).
Cast Jared Leto, Evan Peters, Greta Lee, Jodie Turner-Smith, Cameron Monaghan, Sarah Desjardins.
Evan Peters takes over the role of ENCOM’s Edward Dillinger Jr.; Greta Lee is a video game programmer and tech company CEO and Jodie Turner-Smith plays the female lead Athena.
Producers: Walt Disney Studios.
Filming in Vancouver:
Tron: Ares did some second-unit filming in downtown Vancouver on July 24th ahead of principal photography.
Target release date: December 2025.
Tron (1982)
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner.
Computer hacker Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) is abducted into the digital world and forced to participate in gladiatorial games where his only chance of escape is with the help of heroic security program Tron (Bruce Boxleitner).
Tron: Legacy (2010)
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde.
The son (Garrett Hedlund) of a virtual world designer goes looking for his father (Jeff Bridges) and ends up inside the digital world that his father designed. He meets his father’s corrupted creation and a unique ally (Olivia Wilde) who was born inside the digital world.
