Tron Franchise Star Reacts to Poor Box Office Performance of ‘Ares’

Unless we’re talking the home run anime movies hit with Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle and Chainsaw Manhe October box office has been lackluster. While good movies like Dwayne Johnson’s The Smashing Machine and Tron: Ares have come out, none have been able to mesmerize the audience enough to bring them to the theaters. The hopes were high for the Jared Leto-led legacy sequel that has a timely plot relating to artificial intelligence and brings back franchise star Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, but those elements did not translate to box office success. Now, Bridges has responded to the movie’s fate at the box office.

Directed by Joachim Rønning, Tron: Ares is a sequel to the Oscar-nominated Tron: Legacy, which was considered a financial miss despite making $409.9 million worldwide and garnering a dedicated following of fans. In contrast, Ares so far has earned $123 million worldwide, split between $63 million in domestic revenue and a further $60 million from overseas markets. Speaking about the new movie’s box office haul, Bridges said in a new interview with Entertainment weekly, “It’s interesting, though, how movies are received at opening weekend.” He further explained,

“I remember Heaven’s Gate was considered, you know, very disappointing or a flop, but nowadays it’s considered kind of a masterpiece. Even as an individual, often, I have not liked a movie. And then a couple weeks or months later, I’ll see it again. I’ll say, ‘What was I thinking?’ [Laughs] As the Dude would say, ‘That’s just like your opinion, man.'”

What Is ‘Tron: Ares’ About?

The threequel follows a highly sophisticated program, Ares (Leto), who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission marking humankind’s first encounter with sentient A.I. beings. The film had a lukewarm opening weekend, with mixed reviews from fans and critics. It has a 53% Rotten Tomatoes rating from critics, but the audience rating sits higher at 86 percent. So, if Bridges’ comments are anything to go by, Ares has a chance to redeem itself when it arrives on streaming. In Collider’s review, Ross Bonaime writes:

“But compared to the other films in this series, it definitely feels like a step in a compelling direction that’s starting to figure out what works and what doesn’t. The world of Tron is almost always likely to be absurd and more about vibe than a fantastic story, and Ares leans into that. Like the other two films, Ares still works best when it keeps its mouth shut and allows us to stare at the pretty visuals while a great soundtrack plays along.”

The movie features strong performances from Greta Lee as Eve Kim, Evan Peters as Julian Dillinger, Jodie Turner-Smith as Athena, Hasan Minhaj as Ajay Singh, Arturo Castro as Seth Flores, Gillian Anderson as Elisabeth Dillinger, Cameron Monaghan as Caius, and Sarah Desjardins as Erin, among many others.

Tron: Ares is in theaters now.