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How badly did Disney’s Tron: Ares flop? An analysis has been done on how much money Walt Disney Studios stands to lose after the latest revival of the video-games-but-real franchise stumbled at the box office, and it’s… a lot of money. Like, “you could make a whole other movie for that kind of money” money.

For those who’ve not been paying attention, Tron: Ares — the third installment in the on-again, off-again sci-fi franchise that debuted with 1982’s Tron, and was revived with 2010’s Tron: Legacy — was released October 10, 2025 after many years in development, and was met by mixed reviews and a seemingly disinterested public, underperforming box office expectations significantly. Originally estimated to earn somewhere between $45-50 million in its opening weekend, it instead opened to $33.5 million, with a second weekend take that dropped 65%. 

Deadline did the math on how much the new movie cost to make and market, and then worked with estimates on how much it’s likely to make both in theaters and post-theatrical releases based on historical data, and… it’s not a pretty picture. The outlet concludes that, in total, Tron: Ares is likely to make somewhere in the region of $214.8 million for the studio, which feels impressive until Deadline’s estimate that the movie cost somewhere in the region of $347.5 million once production, promotion and residual costs were factored in — meaning that the movie is currently estimated to make a $132.7 million loss for Disney.

For context: According to estimates, the production budget of this Spring’s horror hit Sinners was $90 million. The production budget for the recent Weapons was reportedly $38 million. That means that Disney looks set to lose more money on Tron: Ares than it would have cost to make two of the most-talked about movies of the year, combined.

Does this mean that Tron is dead as a franchise? Don’t bet on it — the series has come back from limbo twice to date, after all. Odds are good that, even with this flop, Tron obsessives will be gifted with a fourth movie at some point in the next 20 years.

Tron: Ares is currently in theaters. (For now.)

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