The Real Reason Tron: Ares Flopped — And Why Jared Leto Isn’t to Blame

Disney flipped the switch on Tron: Ares, and the grid barely flickered. After a loud marketing push and a shiny trailer campaign, the third Tron movie limped into its debut with numbers that would make a circuit board weep.

The opening weekend reality check

Tron: Ares opened to $60.5 million worldwide: $33.5 million in the US and $27 million overseas, per Box Office Mojo. Critics shrugged (54% on Rotten Tomatoes), while audiences were much kinder (87% audience score and a B+ CinemaScore). It hit theaters on October 10, 2025.

This was not some tiny project either. Oscar-winner Jared Leto leads, Joachim Ronning directs, Nine Inch Nails handles the score, and the ensemble includes Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, and Gillian Anderson, with Jeff Bridges dropping in as Flynn. On paper, it looks like a power play.

So...what shorted out?

• The Tron brand was never massive. The 1982 original was a tech milestone but a soft earner. Tron: Legacy in 2010 made around $400 million on a $170 million budget and barely squeaked by, with 57% of that total coming from outside the US. Cult following? Sure. Four-quadrant juggernaut? Not really.
• Timing did not help. Nostalgia fades. By 2025, the neon-glow buzz had cooled, and Ares arrived to a crowded landscape where getting people off the couch is half the battle.
• The sales pitch leaned hard on style. The trailers were heavy on immaculate visuals and light on plot. That stuff pops on social, but without a hook, it rarely puts butts in seats. Yes, Nine Inch Nails on the score is a flex. For general audiences, it is seasoning, not the entrée. Even Jeff Bridges showing up as Flynn is fan candy, not a mainstream driver.
• The reviews did not build urgency. A mid-pack critics score (54% RT) plus a decent B+ CinemaScore is the definition of "you can wait to stream it." /Film critic Witney Seibold even called it a "thoughtless sequel."
• Blaming Jared Leto alone is too easy. His recent big swings (Morbius, a cameo presence in the underperforming Haunted Mansion) did not inspire confidence, but the bigger issue is demand. This just was not a movie people were clamoring for.
• Star power math matters. The cast is strong, but it lacks a put-it-on-the-poster-and-watch-it-open name. No Tom Cruise, no Ryan Gosling, no Margot Robbie. The behind-the-scenes chatter made that point loudly.

"You could have had Ryan Gosling, it wasn’t going to work. No one asked for this reboot. If you say, 'Tron: Ares is good, we just needed a different actor,' you’re deluding yourself."

- a top talent agent, via THR

The fallout: eyes on Masters of the Universe

When one pricey bet underdelivers, everyone looks to the next one. For Jared Leto, that is 2026's Masters of the Universe, where Nicholas Galitzine wields the Power of Grayskull as He-Man and Leto plays Skeletor. It is an Amazon MGM Studios and Sony Pictures production with Mattel Studios involved, directed by Travis Knight. The US release is set for June 5, 2026.

The budget? A hulking $200 million — even pricier than Ares. The project does not have a household-name director with automatic box-office pull, but writing it off now would be premature. One killer trailer or strong early word can flip a narrative fast. That said, if Ares is any indication, nostalgia alone is not a strategy; it is a garnish.

If Masters of the Universe hits, Leto gets a clean reset in blockbuster land. If it stumbles, that conversation changes, and probably not in a way he will enjoy.

Where this leaves Tron: Ares

It is in theaters now, and if you are already bought into the franchise, the craft is there. But as a wide-release play trying to resurrect a brand that never ruled the world, the results speak for themselves.

Tron: Ares is in theaters now. Masters of the Universe opens June 5, 2026 (US). Drop your hot takes below — redemption arc or another meme factory?