Tron: Ares Taps Nine Inch Nails Duo Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for a No-Brainer House of Mouse Collaboration

Daft Punk scoring Tron: Legacy felt like fate. So hearing that Nine Inch Nails is doing the music for Tron: Ares? That’s a left turn into oncoming traffic. But producers Sean Bailey and Emma Ludbrook are adamant it’s the right move, and honestly, based on what they’re saying about the movie’s tone, it tracks.

NIN + Tron sounds weird on paper. In practice, it might be perfect.

Bailey says Daft Punk set an insane bar back in 2010, so they had to think hard about who could take this one. The pitch for Ares: heavier, darker, more industrial — they even name-check the Dillinger side of the Tron world — which is basically Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s home turf. The goal isn’t to throw out that sleek Tron identity, but to weld it to NIN’s harsh, beautiful noise. And here’s the insider part: they didn’t just hire Trent and Atticus as composers; it’s Nine Inch Nails as the band. Bailey and Ludbrook even saw the group live recently and heard a track from the soundtrack in the set. Dream-come-true energy. Also, for the trivia pile, they swear the guys love Disney — and yes, Trent apparently rides the LightCycle attraction with gusto.

The setup: where Tron: Ares picks up

We’re 14 years after Legacy. Greta Lee plays Eve Kim, who has stepped in to run ENCOM after Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) resigned. Across town at the family-run rival outfit Dillinger Systems, Evan Peters is Julian, a brilliant coder who’s built his own Grid and figured out how to print highly advanced Programs into the real world — as in, manufacturing living, fighting entities you can deploy off-screen.

'He’s biblically strong, lightning fast, and supremely intelligent... And if he is struck down on the battlefield, I will simply make you another.'

That’s Julian in the trailer, selling investors on Ares (Jared Leto), his shiny new super soldier. Tech whizz turned arms dealer? That ‘heavier’ label makes sense pretty fast.

• Music: Nine Inch Nails, performing as the band, blending their industrial edge with Tron’s signature synth sheen
• Cast: Greta Lee (Eve Kim), Evan Peters (Julian), Jared Leto (Ares)
• Timeline: 14 years after Tron: Legacy
• World: ENCOM under Eve; rival Dillinger Systems; a new Grid and real-world printed Programs
• Vibe check: darker, tougher, more Dillinger-leaning — think chrome with teeth
• Release: October 10 in US and UK theaters

Bottom line: it’s a bold swing. But if you’re going to push Tron into a grittier lane, you could do a lot worse than letting NIN stomp on the gas.