Posted in: Disney, Movies | Tagged: Tron: Ares

TRON: Ares Director Joachim Rønning On Nine Inch Nails's OST

TRON: Ares director Joachim Rønning explains, "With Nine Inch Nails making the music, this installment will be a little grittier, a little bit more industrial."

TRON: Legacy was not a film that made much of an impact when released. Ironically, it was a film that didn't have much of a legacy. It was considered a commercial success, making just over $400 million at the worldwide box office on a budget of $170 million, but the reviews were pretty mixed. The visuals specifically were one of the things that people adored, and it looks so good with high-quality VFX work. However, if there is a legacy attached to this film in any way, it's the soundtrack by Daft Punk. It's up there as one of the best soundtracks of the 2000s and maybe ever, depending on your taste. So, while the upcoming TRON: Ares might not have as high of a mountain to climb regarding story, character, or even visuals if it were to surpass the previous film, the music is something that is going to have a magnifying glass over it.

So Daft Punk is not returning, and Disney decided they wouldn't risk the music. They brought in the big guns and hired Nine Inch Nails, also known as Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, to do the music. Ironically, in 2010, the same year TRON: Legacy was released, Reznor and Ross began to work on music for television and movies. They're Academy and Emmy Award-winning. If you saw Challengers earlier this year, you got to hear some more of their absolutely banging music. Reznor and Ross are specifically making the TRON: Ares music as Nine Inch Nails, and according to an interview with director Joachim Rønning in Empire, the shift in composers will be a reflection of the film itself.

"With Nine Inch Nails making the music, this installment will be a little grittier, a little bit more industrial," Rønning explained. "It's been important for me to contrast The Grid and the real world. In that sense, Nine Inch Nails lends itself perfectly into this new Tron world that we are creating."

While people are going to be nervous about anyone taking over for Daft Punk for the music, Nine Inch Nails and what Reznor and Ross have been doing in the film and TV space in the last decade should give you some optimism that this could be another TRON film with a legendary soundtrack.

In terms of the story of TRON: Ares, we still don't know that much. We got to see some footage at D23, but that hasn't been released to the public yet, and the movie is still pretty far away. However, considering that it is already getting a pretty significant push from Disney and it's not out until October of next year, it says that we might learn more about this one sooner rather than later. As for what drew Rønning to this project, it was the surprisingly human element of this story. "What I always look for in any story is a strong emotional core," he said. "This film will probably be more emotional than people are expecting. It's about the cost of being human." Maybe we'll see some footage of this film early in the year, maybe a Super Bowl drop? We were way off the last time we tried to guess when a studio would release a trailer, so who knows?

TRON: Ares: Summary, Cast List, Release Date

TRON: Ares follows 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.

The feature film is directed by Joachim Rønning and stars Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Hasan Minhaj, Jodie Turner-Smith, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan, with Gillian Anderson, and Jeff Bridges.

Sean Bailey, Jeffrey Silver, Justin Springer, Jared Leto, Emma Ludbrook and Steven Lisberger are the producers, with Russell Allen serving as executive producer.

Disney's TRON: Ares releases in U.S. theaters on October 10, 2025.

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