Joseph Kosinski finally talks TRON 3, Says it will be “The Empire Strikes Back” of the TRON Franchise
Last week, The news broke that Disney was officially moving forward with their previously planned sequel to TRON: Legacy, and with it came the announcement that Disney has hired a new writer to come in and rework the screenplay. Then shortly after it was reported that star Garrett Hedlund, who played the lead role of Sam Flynn, confirmed that he would indeed be coming back for the proposed sequel.
Now, Collider has caught up with Director Joseph Kosinski and got him talking about the subject, with it they posted an excellent and in-depth interview, who is still attached to direct the sequel. While the film isn’t officially his next project, because he is still currently finishing the Film OBLIVION with star Tom Cruse, he wholeheartedly believes that they now have an idea which makes the sequel worth doing, and hints that it very well may be his next project.
“Well the only reason to go back, for me and I think for anyone involved would be if we could do something truly spectacular. We’ve been talking about it for a couple years and there’s always been this idea, a big idea, in the back of my head that we’ve been talking about.
“Well the only reason to go back, for me and I think for anyone involved would be if we could do something truly spectacular. We’ve been talking about it for a couple years and there’s always been this idea, a big idea, in the back of my head that we’ve been talking about.
The idea itself, the notion of what the next Tron could be, is exciting enough that it would be worth going back to do it. Obviously we hinted some things at the end of Legacy, it’s kind of there for people to see what that potential is. So we just want to make sure that we have a script that delivers on that promise on an epic scale.
“I’ve said it would have to be our Empire Strikes Back for me to come back and for me to pull the whole team back together. I think we do have that idea. We do have the idea that feels big and really blows the doors off this franchise. It’s hinted at promises of something for two movies now, for thirty years, so it’s time to deliver on that. But the script’s got to be at a level that makes it worth going back for, because it’s a lot of work to make a movie like this and it’s a multi-year project. So we’ve got our writer Jesse Wigutow on it right now writing, and fingers crossed if it all comes together, as we hope it will, there could be another Tron in the next few years, and it’s going to be awesome.”
Kosinski also address the time frame of the upcoming film, addressing the obvious gap between the films production.
“I think time has passed. It feels like we’re kind of real-time in step. So however much time has passed since Legacy came out would also have transpired in the real world. So it will still be contemporary. So let’s say if the Tron sequel comes out in 2015, then four or five years have passed since the last movie.”
Kosinski touched on the idea that they wanted to move forward with Tron 3 with the idea that it was fresh and new, not reusing anything that they developed for Tron Legacy.
“I don’t want to say too much about it but the goal would not be to simply re-use. We’re not going to re-use the assets from Legacy, that’s no fun. If we’re going to do to it, we’re going to reinvent all over again and it’s going to be a whole new generation for reasons that are very story-driven. That’s all I can say.” And will the sequel be his next film? “There is certainly a chance, like I said; we’re writing the script now. Sometimes with these things all the pieces fall into place. I mean, we’ve been talking about this for years and we don’t have the script now, but sometimes things fall into place very quickly, and if everything lines up it could happen. That’s all I can say, it’s too early.”
Finally, Kosinski was asked whether or not the well welcomed inclusion of Daft Punk would be reprising their roles in the upcoming film, as well as creating the score once again.
“When it comes to building the team up for soundtrack, they would absolutely be my first call. As to whether or not they would do it, it depends on what they’re doing at the time. They are very methodical in how they pick their next project, and they would only do it if they felt that they could dedicate themselves a hundred percent to that.
I know they have another album coming out, I’m sure that’s going to be their next big project, which I assume is going to be followed by a massive tour. So, you know, hopefully if they’ve got the time and the creative willingness to dive back in. Remember, there are a lot of tracks that they created that I still have that I wasn’t able to fit into TRON: Legacy. So we’ve already got a head start on some great tracks for the future, which I’m really excited about. Like I said, they would be my first call.”
While Joseph Kosinski’s next film, the sci-fi epic Oblivion staring Tom Cruse, isn’t scheduled to hit theaters April 19th, 2013, its safe to assume that given the rumored time table and production beginning in 2014 that TRON 3 will indeed be his next film.
But even more exciting is given the comments about the tone, story, and scale of the film, rumors are now flying that seem to validate the idea that the great MCP will be returning along with Dillinger Jr to terrorize the life of Sam Flynn.
