Tron: Ares Director Announces Production Delay and Criticizes ‘Frustrating’ Strike

Tron: Ares director Joachim Rønning has confirmed that the expected production start on the Disney sequel will no longer go ahead this week due to the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, blaming an “extremely frustrating” lack of negotiations on the production’s need to lay off 150 crewmembers indefinitely.

“Today was supposed to be our first day of principal photography on Tron: Ares (a movie subsequently about AI and what it means, and takes, to be human). Instead, we are shut down with over a hundred and fifty people laid off. It’s indefinite, which makes it exponentially harder for everyone,” Rønning, the director behind Disney’s third Tron film, announced in an Instagram post overnight. The director went on to call for the AMPTP to return to the negotiating table with both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, critcizing what he believes are delay tactics.

“The AMPTP, SAG-AFTRA and WGA need to speed up the negotiating process and not leave the table until it’s done. This is Hollywood. We close deals for breakfast. Why do we suddenly have all the time in the world when every day is so precious? These tactics are extremely frustrating. It’s time for diplomacy so we can get back to work–under conditions that are fair to everybody.”

Rønning’s comments come soon after the WGA passed the landmark of 100 days on strike. While the union re-entered negotiations with the AMPTP last Friday, no explicit progress on a deal was announced so far beyond a new offer being evaluated. Meanwhile, the SAG-AFTRA actor’s union strike has continued unabated, entering its second month.

Tron: Ares, the culmination of several years attempting to get a third movie in the Disney franchise off the ground in the wake of Tron: Legacy, is set to star Morbius’ Jared Leto as the titular hero, a program on Tron’s digital grid who goes on a journey to our own reality. The film was currently expected to release some time in 2025, but that will likely change as the strikes in Hollywood progress without ends currently in sight.

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