Jeff Bridges and Jared Leto took the CinemaCon main stage on Thursday amid a light show to introduce “Tron: Ares.”
The sneak peek starts with two Tron cycles evading the police on a freeway. “I’m looking for something, something I did not understand,” Bridges says.
Shots of figures coming to life from the grid ensue. “Ready? Because there is no going back,” Bridges added.
The third film in the “Tron” franchise, which began way back in 1982, arrives this October, with Jared Leto starring as a program named Ares who finds himself in the real world.
In addition to Leto as Ares, the cast also includes Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Hasan Minhaj, Jodie Turner-Smith, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan, Gillian Anderson and, of course, Bridges as Kevin Flynn, the creator of the computerized world of Tron.
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.”
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.
“Tron: Ares” arrives in theaters Oct. 10, 2025.
