2025’s Biggest Sci-Fi Bomb Immediately Redeems Itself on Streaming

3 days ago 10

Adam Blevins began working in the entertainment industry in 2022 as a Staff Writer for Agents of Fandom, where he progressed to Senior Editor and interviewed talent from Marvel Studios, House of the Dragon, and Planet of the Apes. He joined Collider as a News Author in April 2024, was promoted to a Senior position in December 2024, and has written over 3,000 articles for the site, including exclusives relating to Avengers: Doomsday, The Penguin, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, and more. He primarily writes about the latest box office numbers and the hottest movies and TV shows on streaming, while also covering superhero and sci-fi news. He has completed a set visit for The Chosen and even has several months of experience writing Gaming Features at ScreenRant. You can find him on X, LinkedIn, and Muckrack.

There were plenty of box office bombs to go around in 2025, but no movie struggled more to turn a profit than Tron: Ares. Disney’s legacy reportedly cost over $200 million to make, yet the film only returned $142 million during its entire theatrical run. After struggling to make a name for itself on VOD platforms like Prime Video and Apple TV, Tron: Ares arrived on Disney+ this week, where it’s quickly become one of the top 10 most popular movies on the platform. The film stars returning franchise veteran Jeff Bridges along with newcomers Jared Leto, Evan Peters, and Greta Lee.

Tron: Ares debuted with a somewhat positive score on Rotten Tomatoes in the mid-70s shortly before release, but as more reviews for the film came in, it dropped. It came to rest at a Rotten 53% from critics on the aggregate site, and although it boasts a solid 84% on the audience-driven Popcornmeter, it clearly wasn’t enough to save the film at the box office. Tron: Ares, which also stars Cameron Monaghan (Star Wars Jedi: Survivor), needed to gross between $450 million and $500 million to break even. It didn’t even come close to reaching half of this, seemingly sealing the fate of the Tron franchise on the big screen.

Steven Lisberger and David DiGilio wrote the script for Tron: Ares with Jesse Wigutow, and Joachim Rønning directed the film. Rønning is best known for directing the 2017 epic Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, and he also worked with Angelina Jolie a few years later on Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. He most recently directed Daisy Ridley in Young Woman and the Sea.

Will There Ever Be Another ‘Tron’ Movie?

After Tron: Ares had only been in theaters for a couple of weeks, news broke that it would likely be the last Tron movie to make it to the big screen, at least for the immediate future. It’s hard to fault Disney for this, considering it lost several hundred million dollars, but it’s still disappointing for fans hoping to see another Tron movie in theaters. The first two Tron movies also had their box office struggles, but were wildly successful for Disney culturally, and many fans pointed to the decision to have Jared Leto lead the next installment as the primary reason for its failure. Leto also failed to launch a Sony Spider-Man spin-off franchise with Morbius.

Be sure to check out Tron: Ares on Disney+ and stay tuned to Collider for more streaming updates.