With “Top Gun: Maverick” finally in theaters and “Spiderhead” on the way to both theaters and Netflix later this month, Joseph Kosinski is having a career moment. And it’s a well-deserved moment. Kosinski’s filmography includes some sturdy and seriously undersung movies, like 2017’s “Only The Brave” and his 2010 debut, “Tron: Legacy.” While neither film entirely won over audiences, they showcase the skills he honed to make “Maverick” one of the best blockbusters in recent memory (read our review).
But would Kosinski’s sequel to “Tron: Legacy” even have been made if it did better box-office numbers? In an interview with Vulture, Kosinski explained why Disney scrapped the follow-up in 2015, and it has little to do with the film not being a mega-hit. Instead, the director explained that by that point, Disney had already scooped up “Star Wars” and the MCU, two fantasy properties more lucrative than “Tron” ever would be.
“[I]t was a different Disney by 2015,” said Kosinski, “When I made ‘Tron: Legacy,’ they didn’t own Marvel; they didn’t own ‘Star Wars.’ We were the play for fantasy and science fiction. And once you’ve got those other things under your umbrella, it makes sense that you’re going to put your money into a known property and not the weird art student with black fingernails in the corner — that was ‘Tron.’ And that’s okay.” Not every day a director compares Disney properties to high school cliques, but he does have a point. Even the original 1982 “Tron” was a lukewarm success, while Marvel and “Star Wars” are two of the most financially successful franchises of all time. And money talks loudest in Hollywood, not experimental animation.
Kosinski isn’t phased by the lost project, though. “Had I made ‘Tron: Ascension,’ I wouldn’t have made ‘Only the Brave,’ and I wouldn’t have made the movies I made. But remember, the first “Tron” was not a hit when it came out. It’s a cult classic. And if ‘Tron: Legacy’s becoming the same thing, I couldn’t be more thrilled.” And Kosinski has certainly decamped to greener pastures than “Tron” sequels. “Top Gun: Maverick” is both a critical and box-office sensation and virtually guarantees Kosinski the ability to make whatever he wants as his next film.
Even so, a different sequel to “Tron: Legacy” is currently in development at Disney. With the working title “Tron: Ares,” the new film will star Jared Leto alongside cast members from “Legacy” with “Lion” director Garth Davis set to direct. On a press tour in March for “Morbius,” Leto gave an update on the film and said he and his partners at Disney were “working hard on Tron” and that “we’re getting closer and closer.” So, it looks like another “Tron” movie is in the Disney pipeline after all, but Kosinski won’t be part of it.
And that shouldn’t phase Kosinski at all. He’s at the highest point of his career right now and likely has more success on the way. “Top Gun: Maverick” is in theaters everywhere now, and “Spiderhead” releases in theaters and on Netflix on June 17.