It doesn’t look like Disney will be returning to the Grid anytime soon. When Tron: Legacy opened in 2010, it seemed as if it was about to revive the world of lightcycles and killer frisbees for a new generation, but sadly Tr2n underperformed in theaters and is stuck in the category of big-budget CGI movies like John Carter and Tomorrowland that started as ambitious projects and ended up box office duds. A sequel, Tron 3, had been planned for a while, but Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski says we shouldn’t get our hopes up.

Tron 3 has been in the pipeline since before Tron: Legacy even opened, and has been cancelled and un-cancelled enough times since then to make one want to jump into the digital world and leave one’s physical body behind forever. A few months ago, Jared Leto (sigh) said he was still interested in the project, but if it happens, it doesn't look like it’s coming anytime in the foreseeable future. Kosinski gave ComingSoon an update on the third movie, which would be titled Ascension, and it doesn’t sound too hopeful.

Jared and I had actually been talking about Tron since Tron: Legacy back in 2009. We almost put him in that movie, actually in [the End of Line club scene]! So Jared’s a huge fan and we actually batted around ideas and I was talking to him about that role in Ascension, but we only got to the script stage on that. We never really moved beyond that and that’s sort of where it sits for now.

Earlier this month, Leto gave a hopeful statement to Collider about the possible sequel, saying that, “ It’s something that we’re in discussions about and very much looking forward to bringing to reality. It’s very early days though.”

Disney is in a totally different place now than it was seven years ago, and is focusing more of its energies on their built-in fanbase franchises like Marvel and Star Wars. But that doesn’t mean Tron: Ascension has been smashed to pixels just yet. It just means we’ll probably have to wait a little longer than we’d like to see it.

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