New Look at ‘Tron: Ares’ Promises Cutting-Edge Visuals and a Tech-Driven Story

The Tron franchise is getting a fresh new chapter with the upcoming film, Tron: Ares, set to hit theaters on October 10, 2025. This new movie promises to push the boundaries of visual effects once again, continuing the series’ tradition of leading-edge technology. Director Joachim Rønning shared with Empire magazine that working on Tron: Ares feels like chasing “the Holy Grail of computer graphics.”

He explained that the film will use innovative camera work that mimics how a machine would film, saying, “The concept was that a program is filming a program. So it’s shot by a robot.”

Tron has always been about imagining a digital world ahead of its time. The original 1982 film was a pioneer in visual effects, and Tron: Legacy in 2010 raised the bar even higher with its neon-lit digital universe called The Grid.

Now, Tron: Ares aims to bring this vision into a new era by mixing the virtual and real worlds. Steven Lisberger, the creator of Tron, told Empire that the film’s iconic Light Cycles will take their high-speed action onto real city streets, cutting through cars as they go. Lisberger said, “It has become a symbol of our riding this technology that is going faster than we ever imagined… In Ares, it’s a metaphor for the fact that this technology is moving through every part of our reality.”

The story centers on a powerful program named Ares, who enters the real world on a risky mission. This marks the first time humanity faces an AI being in this way. Greta Lee, who plays programmer Eve Kim, noted how timely the film feels given today’s tech climate. She said, “So many days on set, we would get the chills, because the ideas that [Lisberger] put in place years ago are not just still relevant, but in our faces. Inescapable.”

Tron: Ares also stars Jared Leto as the title character, with a supporting cast including Evan Peters, Hasan Minhaj, Jodie Turner-Smith, Cameron Monaghan, and Gillian Anderson. Jeff Bridges returns as Kevin Flynn, a familiar face from the earlier movies.

The journey to Tron: Ares has been a long one. After the release of Tron: Legacy, plans for a sequel took shape but went through several changes and delays. At one point, the film was officially greenlit but later canceled, reportedly because of the poor box office performance of another Disney film, Tomorrowland.

Various directors and writers were attached over the years, with the project eventually shifting from a direct sequel to a reboot. Jared Leto’s character Ares was kept from earlier ideas and remains central to this new story. Joachim Rønning entered negotiations to direct in 2023, replacing Garth Davis who had previously been hired. The script has seen contributions from writers like Jack Thorne.

With the release scheduled for late 2025, the film will also be available in IMAX 3D. The studio behind the film, Walt Disney Pictures, describes the story as focusing on “a highly sophisticated program, Ares, who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind’s first encounter with A.I. beings.”

Looking at all this, it’s clear that Tron: Ares is aiming to not just continue the story but also reflect on how technology affects our lives today. The blending of digital worlds and reality, along with advanced filmmaking techniques, could make this one a standout. What do you think about Tron returning with such a futuristic angle? Are you excited to see how the film handles AI and technology? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!