Disney is taking us back on the grid in the highly anticipated film “Tron: Ares.”
Whether you’re a longtime fan of the 43-year franchise, or you’ve hopped on one of the lightning fast bikes on TRON Lightcycle Run at Walt Disney World, this film has all of the action.
It also taps into raw emotion and seeks to answer existential question of the moment: How can humans and AI co-exist?
“For me, ‘Tron’ is someone else’s ‘Star Wars,'” says Jared Leto, who plays Ares. “I just love the storyline. I love the characters. I love the grid. I love the world. I love the technology.”
Ares is a highly sophisticated program, sent from the digital world into the real world.
This is the third installment in the “Tron” franchise, which started in 1982, and Leto has been a superfan since childhood.
“For me, it’s like a dream come true. In 1982, I walked into that movie. I was 11, but it just blew me away,” he says. “And here we are sitting here with ‘Tron: Ares’ 40-something years later. It’s pretty cool.”
In this film, this is the first time humans encounter AI beings.
Greta Lee plays Eve Kim, a tech CEO now questioning what is real.
“We have these huge things, AI and tech, and they’re so relevant to us,” says Lee. “But we wanted to hone in on the human element of it.”
Eve is looking for a legendary piece of software that would allow digital entities, like Ares, to become permanent in the real world.
Julian Dillinger, played by Evan Peters, is also on the hunt for it.
“It feels like a pressure cooker, and it’s an intense, intense, high stakes ride for sure,” says Peters.
Gillian Anderson plays his mother Elisabeth, cautioning him about taking the technology too far.
“It’s be careful what you wish for, because of the capability of AI,” says Anderson. “Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should.”
All of this is set to the soundtrack of Nine Inch Nails.
“It’s really a ride,” says Peters. “It kind of feels like you’re on a lightcycle the whole time. And the Nine Inch Nails of it all just booming through the speaker, it sounds incredible and elevates the whole thing.”
Jeff Bridges, who plays computer programmer Kevin Flynn in the first two films, is back for the ride.
“When he walked on the set for the first time, everyone applauded,” says Leto. “We were so excited to have him.”
“I don’t want to give it away, but that moment where we get to see the old grid again in a new way, is just beautiful,” says Lee.
This movie about Artificial Intelligence was very much filmed in the real world.
The crew shut down Vancouver for six weeks shooting the lightcycle action sequences.
“It’s very important for us to make it believable,” says director Joachim Ronning. “How can we make a lightcycle look real in the real world? We built it.”
“Tron: Ares” is in theaters October 10th.
The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of this ABC station.
Copyright © 2025 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.
