How much does Disney like Tron Legacy? So much that they’ve begun working on a sequel. And are planning a trilogy.
According to the Heat Vision blog the Mouse House has gathered Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, writers of Tron Legacy, back to begin writing the next film. There are no other folks attached at the moment – including director Joseph Kosinski, who is supposed to reboot The Black Hole next and may very well go for the Old Failed Live Action Disney Remake Trifecta with Dragonslayer – but supposedly the suits would like to get as many of the players back to continue in the sequel.
What would it be about? Nobody’s saying, but I am pretty sure that such contingencies were planned for when the first film was being made. It isn’t like Tron Legacy ends with the destruction of computers and the deaths of every major character, and everybody is nailed down with multi-picture contracts.
This doesn’t mean a Tron Legacy sequel will begin any time soon; Disney’s going to wait and see if the public likes the film as much as they think they might. But what’s going to happen is that Disney will have a sequel ready to ramp up into production ASAP, and won’t have to wait years and years to get the next one out. These films will be heavy on FX, and Tron Legacy will spend a solid year in post-production. Expect another year in post for the sequel, and consider the average of a year or so development and pre-production with another six months or so of production; if Disney waited until 2011 to strike on a Tron sequel they wouldn’t even begin to think about having it in theaters until about 2014. With a script in place, they can greenlight the sequel the day after and Legacy opens and have a movie in theaters in 2013 or 2012.