TRON: Legacy is probably one of the biggest releases in the last decade. It found a large international audience and pulled the crowds in by the thousands on the first day itself. So why is it still considered a box office flop?
TRON: A box office flop?
The budget of TRON was probably one of the most expensive films made in the last decade. The sci-fu world did little to help with the budget. The VFX and animation were great and green screens were out to good use. The budget of the movie was a whopping $170 million. It also turned out a high profit by gathering $400 million.
So why is it still considered a flop? A number of reasons can be given as an answer. Firstly, the collection of the box office was from international audiences. The main target theatres in the United States of America only managed to pull in a mere $88 million. Even with the international audience and the long weekends in the theatres couldn’t help with the numbers.
The second reason was that although a minor group of the audience did like the movie, the critics completely butchered the movie with their reviews. They called it ‘hollow’ and ‘lifeless’. That was more than enough to keep the audience out of the halls or watching better movies. The only thing that is actually commendable is the soundtrack created by Daft Punk.
There was chatter in the industry that Disney was planning to bring back a third installment of the movie, but decided against it after studying statistics.
The movie was meant to be the next Avatar, but it did not come even remotely close. The movie was not received well by the national audience.
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The original
The original version of TRON was less than half the budget of the second part. Although the movie did not have a great rating, it still managed to make up for the budget that was spent in total. That includes marketing and promotion revenue. The same cannot be said for the Legacy.
During the first week, they only managed to make $44 million. The box office statistics itself prove why it was a big flop. Surprisingly after the second part was out in theatres, the ratings for the first part magically shot up, proving that the original was much better.
Could TRON 3 still happen?
Director Joseph Kosinski says that it could be possible that Disney would agree to the release of a third installment of the movie. Fans are still eager for TRON 3. The movie is somewhat of an obscure genre that doesn’t have a lot of fans.
He added that a TRON movie is not just something that can be released every one or two years, and needs to be visually advanced and include a narrative making it easy for the audience to follow. It es time to make a movie like TRON. The executives at Disney are still thrilled by the idea of a third installment in the franchise.
Although box office statistics say otherwise, fans are still eagerly awaiting the release of a third movie. It is all up to Disney and whether they can handle another flop and invest in a movie that might not appeal to the audience, or stash the project away forever.
