‘Tron: Ares’ Bombs at the Box Office with Disappointing Global Opening

Disney’s sci-fi sequel Tron: Ares had a rough start at the box office, bringing in just $33.5 million from 4,000 theaters in North America and only $60 million worldwide over its opening weekend.

With a massive $180 million budget, not counting marketing costs, the movie’s debut is far from what the studio hoped for.

Before release, the film was expected to earn between $45 million and $50 million domestically. But even with a “B+” grade from CinemaScore audiences, it couldn’t break beyond its core group of fans—mainly young men.

That left it behind 2010’s Tron: Legacy, which opened with $44 million, though it did perform better than the original 1982 Tron, which started with just $4.7 million.

The movie stars Jared Leto, Greta Lee, and Evan Peters, and is directed by Joachim Rønning, known for Pirates of the Caribbean. The story follows the first contact between humans and artificial intelligence, as a powerful digital program crosses into the real world.

This October, worlds will collide. #TronAres. Only in theaters 10.10.25 pic.twitter.com/9Q1RAUBHBU

David A. Gross from Franchise Entertainment Research explained what went wrong. “The movie was tracking well, but interest stalled during the last 10 days and the opening dropped,” he said.

Still, Gross added that the sci-fi genre usually finds a stronger audience overseas because “this is effects-driven, good-guys-versus-bad-guys storytelling that’s understood and well-liked across all cultures.”

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 57% rating based on 175 reviews. The site’s summary says, “A sensory feast of vivid neon hues and a hypnotic soundtrack, Tron: Ares is gorgeous to behold but too narratively programmatic to achieve an authentically human dimension.” Metacritic gave it a score of 48 out of 100, showing that critics are divided.

Despite the mixed reviews, some critics found things to like. David Rooney from The Hollywood Reporter praised Jared Leto’s performance, calling it “refreshingly subdued” and noting that it gave the movie an “emotional hook” and “occasional touch of humor.” Tara Brady of The Irish Times said the movie was better than its predecessor, especially highlighting the soundtrack and performances, though she added it “could pass for a visual album.”

Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com gave it four stars, calling the film “spectacularly designed, swiftly paced, thoughtfully written, and directed within an inch of its neon-hued life.” On the other hand, Kyle Smith from The Wall Street Journal said, “Tron: Ares is essentially a laser-light-show redo of the first two Terminator movies, with Eve as Sarah Connor, minus the suspense, the scares and the witty dialogue.”

Not everyone was impressed. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave it just one star, calling it “mind-bendingly dull.” Robbie Collin of The Telegraph and Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent also gave it one star each.

Empire’s John Nugent was a bit more positive, giving it three out of five and describing it as “fun if forgettable futuristic fluff.” David Ehrlich of IndieWire graded it a C+, saying the Nine Inch Nails score gave the sequel “its own sense of violent self-identity.”

Even though Tron: Ares didn’t light up the box office, it’s clear the movie made an impression with its visuals, music, and ambitious ideas. Whether it can recover in the weeks ahead or find a stronger audience overseas remains to be seen.

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