Tron 3: Maleficent 2 Director in Talks to Helm Sequel, Production Start Date Set

Tron: Ares, the third installment in Disney’s iconic sci-fi franchise, may have finally found its director.

Deadline is reporting that Joachim Rønning, the director of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, is in talks to direct the upcoming sequel to 2010’s Tron: Legacy. According to the outlet, the film’s crew is currently being assembled and an August production start date in Vancouver is being eyed. The sequel will star Jared Leto, marking yet another collaboration between Leto and Disney after this year’s Haunted Mansion movie.

Leto had previously stated on several occasions that he would be playing a character named Ares in the proposed film and even revealed the film’s title as Tron: Ares in a now-deleted tweet from 2020.

The original Tron was released in 1982 and starred Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner. A sequel, Tron: Legacy, wouldn’t release until 2010. The franchise has since appeared in crossover series like Kingdom Hearts and Disney Infinity and has been the focus of a television show (Tron: Uprising) and numerous video games, including the recently announced Tron: Identity.