Tron: Ares - Release Date, Cast, Story & Everything We Know About Tron 3

Summary Tron: Ares, the highly-anticipated third installment in the Tron franchise, has faced numerous setbacks and production delays, including strikes that have forced indefinite delays and layoffs.

Tron: Ares has finally established a production timeline, and began filming in early 2024.

Jared Leto's casting as the lead has been divisive, but he will be joined by Evan Peters in an undisclosed role, and other actors like Greta Lee, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Gillian Anderson have also joined the cast.

Tron: Ares is the highly-anticipated third chapter in the Tron franchise, which kicked off in 1982 and continued with the 2010 sequel Tron: Legacy. Revolving around a virtual reality simply known as "the Grid," the franchise has dabbled in interaction with both morally good and corrupt computer programs. While the first Tron was praised for its groundbreaking visuals, Tron: Legacy also walked in its footsteps with its stunning light cycle battles, an iconic score by Daft Punk, and Oscar-nominated sound editing.

The production delay for a third Tron movie seems justified given how the first two movies shared a 28-year-long gap. The original wasn't a big enough hit for Disney to make an immediate sequel, yet after Tron gained a cult following, the studio decided to flesh out the franchise. Tron: Ares has also received many setbacks, including Disney scrapping the idea for another sequel completely in 2015 and original director Garth Davis being replaced by Joachim Rønning. Now, with Tron: Ares finally out of development hell, the third installment is on its way.

Related TRON: Legacy - What Went Wrong With Disney’s Long-Awaited Sequel It took Disney 28 years to release a sequel to their cult hit Tron, so why wasn’t their lavish follow-up TRON: Legacy enthusiastically received?

Tron: Ares Latest News

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Though the news was slow for months due to the strikes and other development issues, the latest update sees Tron: Ares' release date announced. The highly-anticipated continuation of the cult classic '80s movie began shooting earlier in 2024 and is now scheduled to premiere on October 10, 2025. The lengthy timeline is likely due to the visual effects that will extend the post-production period well into 2025.

The Next Tron Movie Arrives In Late 2025

While it may not be as soon as fans may have wished, Tron: Ares has finally established a release date after years of development hell. The legacy sequel has been in various stages of production for nearly 15 years, and the threequel is now slated to premiere on October 10, 2025. The date may change in the interim, but a firm premiere slot is a positive sign that things are progressing smoothly.

Related Original Tron Stars React To Upcoming Jared Leto-Led Threequel Original Tron stars Bruce Boxleitner and Cindy Morgan react to the news of the Jared Leto-led threequel and address their potential returns.

Tron: Ares Cast

Jared Leto Leads A Star-Studded Ensemble

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Leto has proven his acting capabilities with his Oscar-winning performance as Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club, yet Leto has also been behind some critically panned roles like the Joker in the DC Extended Universe

Jared Leto’s Tron 3 casting has proven to be heavily divisive. Leto plays the titular lead role of Ares, and fans are already concerned because of the actor's troubled past with franchise films. Leto has proven his acting capabilities with his Oscar-winning performance as Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club, yet Leto has also been behind some critically panned roles like the Joker in the DC Extended Universe.

Leto will be joined by Emmy winner Evan Peters in an undisclosed role in Tron: Ares, and it seems clear that Peters will play a substantial part. It was also announced that Greta Lee will join the cast as a tech CEO with some valuable technology that needs protecting, while Jodie Turner-Smith joins in an undisclosed role. After months of silence regarding the cast, Gillian Anderson was announced in an undisclosed role not long after the project began filming.

The known cast of Tron: Legacy includes:

Actor Tron: Ares Role Jared Leto Ares Greta Lee Unknown Evan Peters Unknown Hasan Minhaj Unknown Jodie Turner-Smith Unknown Arturo Castro Unknown Cameron Monaghan Unknown Gillian Anderson Unknown Sarah Desjardins Unknown

Tron: Ares Story Details

Jared Leto's Ares Will Be The Center Of The Story

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The project summary on Production List reveals a vague idea of what Tron: Ares would actually be about. Referring to the sequel as “a compelling exploration of Ares’ journey," it doesn’t give away much. While both Tron and Tron: Legacy were largely set in digital environments, the ending of Legacy had major repercussions for the future. Quorra stepped out into the real world in the first instance in the franchise when a program could turn human.

Considering that Jared Leto plays a character named Ares, the “journey” in question could be his visit beyond the Grid with damaging consequences for humans. Ares was the Greek god of war and is no stranger to creating discord. While Jesse Wigutow serves as Tron: Ares' screenwriter, Joseph Kosinski told Collider that his original Tron 3 script (titled Tron: Ascension) dealt with an invasion storyline set between the two worlds. If strands of Kosinski’s script do get incorporated within Tron: Ares, then an actual war of the worlds could ensue.

Tron: Ares Tron: Ares is the third film in the Tron franchise created by Steven Lisberger in the early '80s. The movie is a direct sequel to 2010's Tron: Legacy and stars Jared Leto in the lead role of Ares. Jesse Wigutow penned the screenplay for Disney, who previously worked on the 2015 TV Movie, The Prince. Director Joachim Rønning Release Date December 19, 2025 Studio(s) Disney Distributor(s) Disney Writers Jesse Wigutow Cast Jared Leto Franchise(s) Tron prequel(s) TRON , TRON: Legacy