Tron: Ares didn’t quite sparkle at the box office in the way that Disney had hoped, failing to bring in the money such a franchise should perhaps be bringing in and has now been labelled a flop that will lose the studio millions. But star Jeff Bridges doesn’t see it that way, and doesn’t think the third film is the flop many have written it off as.
The Oscar Winner – who plays Kevin Flynn for the third time in the new film – was chatting to Entertainment Weekly for a new interview where he spoke of the film’s underwhelming box office thus far, and says its “interesting” that the film has already been labelled a flop after only a few weeks.
“It’s interesting, though, how movies are received at opening weekend,” he said. “I remember ‘Heaven’s Gate’ was considered, you know, very disappointing or a flop, but nowadays it’s considered kind of a masterpiece.”
“So it’s interesting how things can grow on you,” he added, “Even as an individual, often, I have not liked a movie. And then a couple of weeks or months later, I’ll see it again. I’ll say, ‘What was I thinking?’”
In the chat, Bridges also talked about the notorious flop that was 1981’s Heaven’s Gate – which cost over $50million and only made $3.5million and which Bridges starred in – has a screening of the director’s month next month, highlighting that despite its failure, it still has an audience who loves it over four decades later:
“As the Dude [from ‘The Big Lebowski’] would say, ‘That’s just like, your opinion, man.’” he added.
Released earlier this month, Tron: Ares grossed only $60 million during its opening weekend at the global box office, which has now risen to over $ 125 million. However, the film’s production was reportedly between $180-$220million, not to mention other costs, and could lose the studio over $130million after its theatrical run.
Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Bock told TheWrap, that the third film was likely a hard sell to begin with, given it was “hard to peg” the “mass appeal” for the movie: “It’s not as brainy as the past films and tries to appeal to the multiplex masses, but there just isn’t anything there that immediately tells audiences there’s something they haven’t seen before.”
Is this a case of Hollywood’s obsession with sequels and franchises slowly coming to an end in light of audience appetite changes, or did anyone really want a third Tron movie?
Tron: Ares stars Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith and Hasan Minhaj alongside Bridges, and is in cinemas now.
