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TRON: Ares Has A "Precise And Unpleasant" Score

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross tease the TRON: Ares soundtrack, saying "it sounds precise and unpleasant at times."

People are excited about TRON: Ares for a bunch of reasons, but one of the biggest reasons is the soundtrack. The soundtrack for TRON: Legacy has gone on to become more well-known and beloved than the film itself, and it is often cited as one of the best original soundtracks ever (don't @ me). So when they announced another TRON film, everyone wondered who would do the music, and then Disney announced Nine Inch Nails would be doing the soundtrack. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have been making award-winning soundtracks under their own names for years, but this time, they were specifically asked to work under the Nine Inch Nails name, and, as Reznor explained in an interview with Empire, that was the most surprising part of the offer.

"A couple of years ago, he came by the studio and said, 'Do you think you guys would be interested in scoring Tron?' He didn't even finish the sentence, I was like, 'Fuck yes, we'd want to do that'," Reznor explained. "He said, 'How would you feel about if it was credited as Nine Inch Nails, versus Trent and Atticus?' We weren't expecting to hear that question."

We got a trailer for this movie in April, so now people have a bit of an idea about what TRON: Ares will look like. The music, however, is a bit more shrouded in mystery. Thankfully, Reznor was willing to drop some notes about what we can expect from the OST. "I'll give a few spoilers: there's not one second of orchestra in our score," Reznor explained. "It sounds precise and unpleasant at times. It's not an atonal, punishing score, but we spent a lot of time thinking about the undertones of what's happening in the story. The concept of artificial life infused with feelings and emotions and a sense of questioning their purpose and their replaceability, their lack of soul, in some ways. We kind of riffed on that."

As a movie soundtrack nerd, everything about that sentence gets me even more hyped. This was a "go big or go home" moment for Reznor and Ross, and they were not only going to go big, but big and unique. As Ross explained, "It's different [from the previous Tron scores], and in places, perhaps takes a bigger swing for what music can do in cinema. Without sounding fucking pompous. I mean, that was a goal. You know, if you're going to do it, then you may as well take a big swing." The score for TRON: Legacy came in and really shook up the industry in a very unique way, so it's not surprising to hear that they are shooting to do that again with TRON: Ares. Now we just need a good movie to go along with it, but if history repeats itself, the quality of the film might not even matter to the longevity and legacy of the music.

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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