It was
just a week ago that original Tron director Steven Lisberger
returned from oblivion to helm a new futuristic sci-fi film called Soul
Code about people downloading memories into other bodies. Apparently, the
news made Disney execs remember that the property was still viable and relevant
because they’ve just appointed a director for a Tron sequel, and this guy’s got the visual chops to
deserve the gig.
Joseph
Kosinksi isn’t a household name by any means, but the guy’s been making a
splash lately with some rather interesting commercial work, not to mention his
recent snagging of the Logan’s Run remake. The first bit of
his I saw was the stunning Gears of War TV spot set to the Gary
Jules version of “Mad World” (big ups to Donnie Darko). That clip is housed
at his web site along with lots of
other super-stylized shorts that speak well for his affinity for FX and flair. In
fact, looking at his work gave me a good idea of what Chris Cunningham’s career
probably would’ve been like had he decided to take the Hollywood/Madison Ave.
money and run after making such a splash with his brilliant Aphex Twin and
Squarepusher videos.
That
bodes well for Tron MKII, which is being billed as “the next chapter” in the
story. The script is coming from a couple of Lost writers, Eddie
Kitsis and Adam Horowitz (what…no Mike D?), and is being kept super-secret for
now. What is known is that Kosinski will do some Light Cycle test sequences
before the film really even gets underway in order to finetune the look of the
film. For me, Tron was an enjoyable flick for its time, but has zero
resonance for me these days, so there’s no particular fidelity I expect from
this new version in order to make it worthy (although, people who do care about that can relax as Lisberger’s co-producing the flick). I simply want an enjoyable,
eye-popping adventure flick that stands on its own.