Disney’s Latest Flop: Tron: Ares
The Disney Grooming Syndicate, led by filmmaker Jimmy Kimmel, faces yet another disappointment following a significant domestic and global setback with Tron: Ares.
It’s pretty disappointing to see a project like this struggle, particularly one that explores a beloved franchise.
Tron: Ares, the latest chapter launched in a series that began in 1982, managed to secure just $33 million during its opening weekend domestically and a mere $27 million internationally. For a film reportedly budgeted at over $200 million, plus around $70 million for marketing, the global tally of about $60.5 million is disappointing.
For the film to break even, it would ideally need to pull in at least $500 million worldwide. Unfortunately, estimates suggest it may only reach between $150 million and $200 million.
In 2010, Tron: Legacy brought in $410 million globally, which puts this current situation into stark perspective.
It seems Tron joins a growing list of franchises that Disney has seemingly mishandled, following the likes of Star Wars, Marvel, Willow, and Indiana Jones. There’s even speculation that properties like Alien and Predator might not fare much better. The recent FX show Alien: Earth was criticized heavily, and I have to wonder how much viewers can tolerate.
For Disney, 2025 is shaping up to be another year filled with mistakes. It seems like they’ve taken a misguided approach, believing their franchises are robust enough to handle progressive themes while also, I suppose, compromising the innocence of children in broader narratives.
- Captain America: Brave New World – Flop
- Snow White – Flop
- Amateur – Flop
- Thunderbolt* – Flop
- Lilo & Stitch – Big hit
- Elio – Flop
- Fantastic Four: First Steps – Flop
- Freaky Friday – A modest hit
- Tron: Ares – Flop
There seemed to be more optimism surrounding projects like Predator: Badlands, Zootopia 2, and Avatar: Fire & Ash, but I guess it’s hard to tell which way they’ll swing.
One can only hope these ventures don’t succeed, as they may thrive on values that many find troubling.
