I'm late in covering this, but just in case you haven't already heard . . . it looks like a TRON 3 sequel might finally be "in development" now. Though the news could be bittersweet for many fans. Garth Davis has been named director of TRON: Ares, starring Jared Leto.

https://deadline.com/2020/08/garth-davis-tron-sequel-director-jared-leto-movie-1202992103/

https://collider.com/tron-3-title-tron-ares/

This news is personally a bit frustrating and disappointing, because the pendulum between TRON 3 being a direct sequel to TRON Legacy called TRON: Ascension and a spin-off named TRON: Ares has swung back and forth multiple times.

As recently as TheDisInsider article (that kicked off the initial rumor frenzy), it was stating that TRON 3 was "expected to be more of Tron sequel rather than a reboot, and the cast from Tron: Legacy could return". But it's not sounding all that likely at this point.

It sounds like the fact that Garth Davis "aggressively pursued the job, eventually winning over execs" — and no doubt bringing his vision for what the next TRON film should be along with him — is why the TRON: Ares pitch won out.

I also pretty much guessed that Joseph Kosinski likely wouldn't be returning to direct, because he's busy with other projects right now. So unless Disney was willing to wait, they'd hire someone else to direct another TRON sequel. Which is what they did.

Another reason why the TRON: Ares spin-off pitch starring Leto may have won out, could be for cost reasons. If there's only one main star in the picture, without the Legacy cast returning, it would reduce the budget. Disney's financials are currently not in the best of shape, and construction on the TRON roller coaster at the Magic Kingdom in Florida has been temporarily halted.

There's at least still a possibility of Daft Punk returning, to do the TRON: Ares soundtrack. As per the Mitchell Leib podcast interview (starting at the 27:24 mark). But, then again, he also said Disney wanted Kosinski back. And that's not happening. So . . . yeah. 😕


And another rationale for thinking the TRON Legacy cast may not be returning for TRON: Ares . . . it's already rumored additional casting has begun, and Disney is interested in adding Mulan's Liu Yifei. Yet still no word on TRON Legacy actors.

https://fullcirclecinema.com/2020/08/10/tron-sequel-liu-yifei-lead-role/

Thanks to Employee_427 on Twitter and LDSO team member YCP on Facebook for being the first ones to alert me to the TRON: Ares news.

January 19, 2023 UPDATE: After hearing little about TRON: Ares during the past three years, there is news that previously announced director Garth Davis is apparently no longer involved in the project and potentially being replaced by Joachim Rønning, probably best known for directing Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.


Meanwhile, Jared Leto is still set to star as the character Ares, the lead villain, after which the title of the sequel is named.

TRON: Ares also continues being referred to as a "sequel", and according to an article on Deadline it's rumored to begin filming August 2023 in Vancouver, Canada.

https://deadline.com/2023/01/tron-ares-joachim-ronning-helm-jared-leto-disney-sci-fi-sequel-1235227464/

Thanks to GentlemnCckroach on Twitter for alerting me to this update!

January 31, 2024 UPDATE: TRON: Ares began filming on January 20, 2024, after a delay from August 2023 due to the Hollywood writers' and actors' strikes.

The cast of the film revealed so far is:

• Jared Leto as Ares
• Evan Peters as Ed Dillinger Jr. (replacing Cillian Murphy, sadly), best known as Quicksilver in the X-Men and Marvel Cinematic Universe franchises
• Greta Lee
• Jodie Turner-Smith
• Cameron Monaghan, best kown as the Joker on the TV series Gotham, and as Cal Kestis in the Star Wars franchise
• Sarah Desjardins
• Gillian Anderson, of X-Files fame

As of now, there is no news if any of the cast from previous TRON films, will be appearing in TRON: Ares. It's also still not known for certain if the film is a full reboot, soft reboot, or true sequel.

Though I'll go out on a limb, and guess the film will be a soft reboot, with only Bruce Boxleitner returning in a cameo appearance as TRON and/or Alan Bradley.

Rumors also persist that TRON: Ares will have a reduced budget compared to its predecessor, and scenes in the electronic world on the grid will be kept to a minimum, as a result. Instead, the film will mostly take place in the real world.

Thanks again go out to Employee_427 on Twitter for being first to alert me to many of these news updates!

Eight levels in roughly 25 minutes. This third trailer showcases many of the fixes to the Single Player levels of TRON 2.0, via the upcoming Killer App Mod v1.2.

These are all the Single Player issues I've personally noticed, or had pointed out to me. But I'm sure I've still missed a few.

The third trailer was originally meant to show all the remaining Single Player level fixes. But the video became too long, so it had to be split and a fourth trailer is still upcoming.

You can see the first Single Player fixes trailer here.

One of the mandates of Killer App Mod v1.2 has always been to fix or enhance the Single Player campaign, a goal partly inspired by the similar (in purpose) System Shock 2 Community Patch (SCP).

Time stamps for notable changes and fixes:

Security Server

• 00:35 - You can now skip the Security Server level (which consists entirely of one long cutscene) by pressing the spacebar (not shown, just mentioned)

General changes/fixes

• 00:45 - Experimenting with AI Tools to upscale and enhance the textures in TRON 2.0

Tested Waifu2x, ESRGAN (Manga 109 model), Topaz AI Gigapixel, and SFTGAN. Waifu2x always provided the best result.

When comparing several texture upgrades before and after in-game (more than shown in the video), the results showed little to no difference in the majority of cases. Only a few results showed differences that were noticeable.

Therefore, the conclusion is that doing a replacement of ALL textures is not worth the extra memory and disk space required. But perhaps some selective texture enhancement, in a potential Killer App Mod v1.3, is worth doing.

Link to high quality .PNG screenshots of the results:
https://tronfaq.blogspot.com/2019/03/tron-20-killer-app-mod-v12.html

• 02:10 - First-person Sequencer disc selection animation enhanced for 16:9 aspect ratio

The wider field of view in 16:9 reveals awkward movement by Jet's left arm, that was previously hidden off-screen in 4:3 aspect ratio. Jet's left arm now pauses, then lowers, in a less awkward way.

• 02:37 - First-person Cluster disc catching animation enhanced for 16:9 aspect ratio

The wider field of view in 16:9 reveals extremely awkward movement by Jet's left arm, that was previously hidden off-screen in 4:3 aspect ratio. Jet's left arm now lowers, in a less awkward way.

• 02:57 - Restored gibberish reaction when Rod Primitive is used on a Male Civilian program
• 03:15 - Old vs. New disc in Main Menu Jet throwing animation

Killer App Mod v1.1 added an animation on the game's Main Menu, featuring Jet throwing the disc. This animation has been updated with a new disc. (See the next item for an explanation as to why.)

Power Oculus

• 03:49 - Enhancements to ending cutscene (Jet's lips now move while talking, Jet is holding new disc, disc sound plays on-camera, Jet entering beam sound starts on time)

Jet now has a new disc in all cutscenes, including this one. This particular cutscene reveals why the change should be made.

Jet removes the disc from his arm, preparing to throw it. In doing so, it shows the underside of the disc. Revealing how the bottom surface of the disc, in this third-person view, does not match the first-person view. The disc is also oversized (diameter is too wide, and too thick).

The new disc is a bit smaller, thinner, and the underside of the disc now matches what's seen from the disc in first-person view.

City Hub

• 05:07 - Status changes of moving platform switches now accurately reflect events, third switch added

When you use the switch to call the moving platform, the status changes on both it and the switch on the platform itself, don't properly reflect what's happening.

The status changes now more accurately show what's going on. And a third switch has been added on the other side. It didn't make much sense that a two-way platform would only have a switch to call it on one side. How would any programs on the other side be able to call the platform, in order to get across?

• 08:46 - Fixed geometry error in the floor of the main City Hub area, creating flickering (caused by Z-fighting)
• 09:03 - Fixed sign above the Low Level Compiler's "shop" that didn't display any info when highlighted by the reticle
• 09:09 - Fixed question text and subtitles not matching speech when talking to Low Level Compiler program
• 09:52 - Added hint for users of permissions cheat when trying to open the Progress Bar door, and added info when door is highlighted by reticle

The player isn't supposed to have all the permissions in this level. Trying to open the Progress Bar door with the permissions cheat results in nothing happening. Added a hint that you need to do something else first, before you can get into the Bar.

Retrieving Ma3a

• 11:35 - Enhancement to cutscene for 16:9 aspect ratio (wider field of view reveals Crown in base pose with arms straight down, when they should be raised)

Remote Access Node

• 12:35 - First instance of a lighting error that's been fixed (there are others at later time stamps that aren't listed, to avoid repeating this over and over)

Throughout the Remote Access Node level, there are surfaces that are in dark shadow. While shadows do exist in the "electronic world" of TRON, they're not that frequent and they certainly make no sense here. These particular surfaces are glowing (self-illuminating), so they shouldn't be completely dark.

• 13:18 - Closed an opening in the ceiling that allowed you to see one-sided geometry
• 16:06 - Fixed binary bit switch not displaying info when highlighted by the reticle
• 16:12 - Fixed possibility of an energy drain effect still appearing after all Resource Hogs are removed from the level, once Security Clamp is released
• 16:45 - Made force field two-sided (it's possible, without cheating but with much difficulty, to reach the other side of the force field where you could see it was originally one-sided)
• 16:53 - Fixed issues with Exit Port (beam splash present, "socket" has panning texture at rear, trim isn't dark, objective completion message appears on time when entering beam, sound effect when entering beam)

Prepare the DataWraiths

• 17:19 - Enhancement to cutscene (Crown originally not visible near start, even at 4:3 aspect ratio, then appeared from nowhere)

Thorne's Internal Partition

• 18:05 - Fixed being able to fall down Data Stream exit, interior of beam not being bright, no sound effect when entering
• 18:15 - Fixed being able to crawl beside Data Stream exit and then fall underneath level
• 18:52 - Fixed attempting to enter Data Stream at an earlier point resulting in falling beneath level

Function Control Deck

• 19:10 - Enhancement to cutscene (beam splash added)
• 20:26 - Fixed texture error causing flickering (texture is scaled badly)
• 23:02 - Fixed texture errors on all switches on level, and fixed energy bridge switches having no sound effects
• 23:20 - Fixed texture errors on both energy bridges, and centered both bridges (horizontally and vertically)
• 23:28 - Fixed a white striped texture missing between the two bridges, also fixed geometry errors on both sides of platform between bridges causing flickering
• 23:36 - Enhancement to cutscene ("transmission" text no longer intrudes into cutscene, beam splash added, Jet entering beam sound starts on time)