After 15 years of development limbo, Tron: Ares finally hits theaters October 10, carrying the DNA of a script that began life in 2011. David DiGilio, the original writer who crafted the sequel to Tron: Legacy, recently discovered he earned story credit on a film that went through 15 different writers a Hollywood rarity that speaks to the endurance of good ideas.
The Tron Ares Script That Wouldn’t Die
DiGilio’s involvement dates back to June 2011, when he was hired to write Tron 3 following Sam Flynn and Quorra (Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde). “When the movie finally got made, I heard that the title was Tron: Ares, and Ares is a character that I had created in the process as the villain,” DiGilio told The Hollywood Reporter. The character’s transformation from antagonist to protagonist earned him that coveted story credit.
The Tron Ares script survived multiple near-cancellations, including a crushing blow in 2015 when Disney’s Lucasfilm acquisition “sucked the air out of the room” just as production was beginning. DiGilio revealed they were “actually this close to filming” with location scouting in Shanghai when the plug was pulled.
Joachim Rønning’s Digital Resurrection
Now directed by Joachim Rønning, Tron: Ares stars Jared Leto as the titular character an advanced Program described as “biblically strong, lightning fast, and supremely intelligent”. The film explores corporations fighting to bring digital elements from the Grid into the real world, a concept that remained consistent throughout the Tron Ares script’s evolution.
Evan Peters plays the lead villain, with Greta Lee, Hasan Minhaj, and Jodie Turner-Smith joining the cast. Returning actors Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner provide continuity with previous films, while the story ventures into uncharted territory within the Tron universe.
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