UPDATE: The budget keeps rising — THR reports it’s a staggering $200M. Even more bad news, the film was heavily front-loaded in previews, and underperformed on Friday with just $7.5M which means it’ll open in the $35M+ range.
EARLIER: It looks like “Tron: Ares” will have a tough time recouping its budget, especially since the original reporting of its budget being $140M turned out to be untrue. Variety is now saying that ‘Ares’ actually cost $180M. If we go by its $4.8M Thursday previews gross, which included early 2 p.m. screenings, we’re looking at a $35M+ opening weekend.
Some are trying to see the glass half full — one producer told me last night that Disney sees the film less as a traditional movie and more as a $180M commercial for its new Tron ride at Disney World — and if they can keep box office losses in check, the payoff could outweigh the risk. That seems to be the only justifiable reason the Mouse House would greenlight such an expensive Tron movie: to sell theme park tickets.
Now, sure, you might be thinking that these opening numbers are much higher than Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another,” which had a similar budget and would have been celebrated as an immense success had it opened to $35M — but “Tron: Ares” isn’t exactly poised to sweep the next Oscars.
Edward Berger seems to have settled on what comes next. His Lance Armstrong biopic, starring Austin Butler, is now holding casting calls, with production eyed for January.