Why would you make a third “Tron” movie? The first two, despite their groundbreaking technology that revolutionized the film industry multiple times over, bombed at the box office. Making a third from a business standpoint is a horrible decision, unless you have a theme park ride that costs somewhere in the nine-figure region that you need to promote.
For companies like Disney and Universal, the actual film division is little more than a rounding error when compared to their theme park revenues. Disney didn’t spend 4 billion on “Star Wars” just so they could run the film series into the ground, it’s because their toy sales are more valuable than some countries. Where better to sell toys than a place themed after the toy? These companies aren’t so much film studios, they are theme park companies, at least if you go by some of their recent filmmaking decisions.
This summer’s “How To Train Your Dragon” live-action remake was a massive hit, making $635.4 million worldwide off a $150 million budget, but it was greenlit to promote “How To Train Your Dragon - Isle of Berk”, a ride opening this past summer at Universal’s new Epic Universe theme park, which cost between $6 and $7billion to construct.
Why sink hundreds of millions upon hundreds of millions into James Cameron’s “Avatar” series besides them being some of the best and highest grossing films of all time (the original film made $2.9 billion worldwide off a $237 million budget and the second made $2.3 billion worldwide off a budget between $350 to 400 million)? To promote the already existing “Pandora” ride in Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom (which cost around $500 million to build) and the upcoming “Pandora” ride in Disneyland’s California Adventure (part of a $1.9 billion DisneylandForward expansion project).
The 2023 “Super Mario Bros Movie: was a colossal success (making $1.3 billion worldwide off a $100 million budget), and its upcoming sequel “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” most likely will be too. However, those movies exist to drive to you the incredible “Super Nintendo World,” which can be found in Universal’s Epic Universe, Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal Studios in Osaka, Japan (and cost $575 million to make).
Pixar’s “Coco” (which made nearly $800 million off of a $175 million budget) is a perfect film that doesn’t need a sequel, but one is on the way because a ride based on the original film is coming soon (part of the same DisneylandForward initiative as California’s “Pandora”).
“Tron: Ares” makes much more sense as production and advertising cost for a theme park than as a movie in its own right. Disney and Universal know that making movies that get audiences to fall in love with characters and worlds they can visit will be more effective than anything an advertising firm can cook up. Let’s just hope the firms remember that these films do have to be kinda good for the strategy to work.
