Didn’t muster up enough enthusiasm to see Tron: Ares this weekend? Richard Rushfield can’t blame you. “I don’t think a funny-looking motorcycle that’s been in two previous movies is enough to get people to go to the theater,” says Richard, following the Disney film’s tepid $33.5 million debut.
The third entry in the Tron franchise — which started with 1982’s Tron and introduced audiences to those lightcycles, as mentioned above — always seemed like a dicey proposition, says Sean McNulty, especially considering its reported $180 million budget.
“I don’t know anybody who was like, ‘I can’t wait for the next Tron movie,’” says Sean, echoing Richard’s observation about the marketing campaign, which also heavily focused on the film’s score by Nine Inch Nails. “It was just all these kinds of peripheral elements that I’m like, I don’t know that there’s a lot of excitement around this.”
For Richard, Tron: Ares shows the limits of rebooting and continuing franchises from decades past. “It’s like putting the band back together. You’re doing the show, and if you do it right, that’s a big, emotional response,” he says, citing Top Gun: Maverick. “But I don’t think that means, ‘Okay, we’re back in the Aerosmith business. We’re going to go to every Aerosmith concert now forever.’”
“It’s a one-and-done, not a lifestyle choice,” says Sean.
Elsewhere in today’s episode: Richard stumps for his beloved Roofman, which landed in second place at the box office, and Jennifer Lopez becomes the latest celebrity this fall to stumble with a prestige play after Dwayne Johnson (The Smashing Machine). Lopez’s Kiss of the Spider Woman opened with less than $900,000 on 1,300 screens.
“The movie still matters, Richard,” says Sean of the musical, which Roadside Attractions acquired months after it debuted at Sundance. “It’s not carte blanche, like, ‘Oh, they have 60 million followers on Instagram. It’s going to be a huge hit.’ … Dare I say, [social media] is a bit of a mirage about a business opportunity.”
