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Disney Plans Tron Remake

blkmagic writes "Sci Fi Wire is reporting that Disney will remake Tron. The original article was in Variety, but requires a pay subscription, unless you want to sign up for a 14-day free trial. The article didn't mention what stage they're at, but sounds like they're changing the story a bit (surprise). I loved the original when I was younger (and still watch it again once in a while), so I don't know how I feel about this one!"

54 of 434 comments (clear)

  1. Disney to Fuc^H^H^HRemake Tron by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Funny
    I loved the original when I was younger (and still watch it again once in a while), so I don't know how I feel about this one!"

    I don't like to think of myself as a snob, but I was tech savvy enough back at that time that the dumbing of computer terms (and the preposterous fantasy) tried my patience. The graphic effects were good, but that was about all there was for me to enjoy about the flik. So let's speculate about what could be put into such a remake of the film...

    Worms and Virii infest the computer and are blasted with some McAfee ray

    An evil spam king is sentenced to /dev/null until 0>1

    The conceptual depiction of Microsoft Windows security is a hole Rama could pass through with a defaced tin sign by the entrance saying [UNAuthorized Proceses Only Beyond This Point]

    Dee Arrum is a cute, cuddly Pooh-bearish creature who befriends the intrepid party and only wants what is best for everyone

    Bugs will only be the result of users installing unathorised software

    The central processor will have a huge ice pack on its head and complain of constant overclocking pains

    Plugs for Disney partners will be throughout (i.e. Intel Inside)

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    1. Re:Disney to Fuc^H^H^HRemake Tron by Short+Circuit · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's a great film to have a running commentary on. For instance, when Clu is about to kiss Yori, a friend of mine pointed out, "He better check his permissions."

    2. Re:Disney to Fuc^H^H^HRemake Tron by mzipay · · Score: 2, Funny

      i can see it now... they pull a george lucas, fscking up the story by adding "TarTar Bits" - a loveable sidekick that means well but is mostly annoying. and three years after the release, the only redeeming quality is the fantastic light cycle race scene.

    3. Re:Disney to Fuc^H^H^HRemake Tron by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 3, Informative

      I hope they rename the damned thing. The title was a pretty good geek pun when the movie was relased, but NOBODY programs in GW Basic anymore. (For those of you who never had the pleasure, TRON was "Trace On" in Microsoft's GW Basic interpreter, which printed line numbers to the screen as programs were being executed. In the movie, TRON was a debugging program attempting to debug the central mainframe kernal. Neat pun, but VERY dated.)

      --
      SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
    4. Re:Disney to Fuc^H^H^HRemake Tron by Pxtl · · Score: 3, Informative

      Was not the pun. Tron was short for "electronic" - the people who first created the tron character weren't computer people... the glowing-overlay-clothes technique was the root of the project, not the 3d graphics.

      Watch the 20th anniversary DVD for the story.

      Personally, I watch Tron and I still find it visually impressive - the artwork doesn't date that badly because its so abstract. Still, its a shame that it didn't recieve an award for the visual effects (using computers and post-prod stuff for effects was considered "cheating").

      Yes, the plot is a joke and the technical details are absolutely monstrous to geeks like us, but the movie is still visually neato, and the acting is passable.

  2. Poor choice for a remake. by slusich · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In my opinion, a lot of the appeal of the first movie was in the "Wow" factor of it. Computers were not nearly as ubiquitous as they are today. Video games were a huge rage, but still mostly confined to the arcade.
    With all of the CGI enhanced movies being done today, great special effects won't have the same impact.
    There will certainly be some draw based on nostalgia, however I think that will lead mostly to disappointment.

    1. Re:Poor choice for a remake. by Dogtanian · · Score: 4, Insightful

      In my opinion, a lot of the appeal of the first movie was in the "Wow" factor of it.

      You put your finger on it. I remember hearing on the Tron DVD that they were wanting to do "Tron 2" (as a movie) and thinking "what is the point?"

      Tron was never a great movie; visually it was outstanding (I don't want to repeat myself, so click here), but if they were to do a sequel it would have to replicate the visual impact. The still images of the proposed "Tron 2" looked like pretty computer graphics that could have been done anywhere.

      A remake or a sequel would have to try very hard to do justice to the original and be fresh and innovative; the best way to do that would be to do some great visuals, combine it with a more sophisticated (for todays' audiences) computer-based plot, and create something like.... 'The Matrix'. Oops.

      I agree 100%. Tron was a landmark movie in some ways, but things have moved on, and I'm not sure what they want to get out of this. People *will* be disappointed, and kids will wonder what the deal is.

      --
      "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
  3. ...hm by JaffaKREE · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You know what'd be crazy ?

    A new movie. Like with new ideas. That'd be crazy.

    1. Re:...hm by potus98 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You know what'd be crazy ? A new movie. Like with new ideas. That'd be crazy.

      Well sure, but Disney's not talking to Pixar anymore... :-(

      --
      This one gang kept wanting me to join cause I'm pretty good with a bo staff.
    2. Re:...hm by TheFlyingGoat · · Score: 2, Informative

      Like...

      this?
      or this?
      possibly even this?

      And those are just the good movies. But you're right.. generalizations are fun.

      --
      You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. --Winston Churchill
    3. Re:...hm by hunterx11 · · Score: 2, Funny
      "We need some original ideas. Get out your TVs."

      Sure, this is a movie, but you get the point.

      --
      English is easier said than done.
    4. Re:...hm by TrippTDF · · Score: 2, Insightful

      First and foremost, You've got good taste in film. I like that.

      however, I think the parent is getting at lack of original sci-fi in film, which there is a lack of. The only thing jumping out at me right now as original is Sky Captain, which wasn't a juge hit.

      I'll get flamed for saying this I'm sure, but Sci-fi does not have the same wide appeal as any of the movies, for example, you just named... You need something to hook people, something they can relate to based on something they have already seen. That's why all Sci-Fi or fantasy is coming out of things that already exist.

      or maybe Hollywood really is out of ideas...

    5. Re:...hm by freshman_a · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Disney? New ideas? HAH! We're talking about the company that takes classic stories by Victor Hugo, Hans Christian Anderson, etc., turns them into dumbed-down kiddie versions, and then beats them to death with sequels.

    6. Re:...hm by ArsSineArtificio · · Score: 2, Funny

      There's a 68.71 percent chance you're right.

      Cute.

      --
      All employees must wash hands before seeking equitable relief.
  4. Yay for Disney, you rock! by coupland · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think this is an excellent idea, another example of Disney's new groundbreaking philosophy. A groundbreaking... sequel. Get Eddie Murhpy in to do some voices, add a breakfast cereal tie-in, a trailer that only airs in front of one of their other loser movies, a McDonald's meal toy, and you're well on your way to a Disney classic!

    Almost forgot, better hire Pixar to do the actual movie itself, Disney only does cross-promotional advertising now...

    1. Re:Yay for Disney, you rock! by Robotech_Master · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Disney has long remade its movies, even those movies that are considered classics in the original version. The Parent Trap. The Love Bug. The Shaggy Dog. 101 Dalmations. And they've made schlocky sequels to many more. This doesn't really come as much of a surprise to me. I don't think anybody's had an original idea at Walt Disney for the last twenty years or so.

      --
      Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
    2. Re:Yay for Disney, you rock! by demonbug · · Score: 2, Insightful
      I don't think anybody's had an original idea at Walt Disney for the last twenty years or so.


      One word: Fastpass.

      (I'm only semi-serious)

  5. And CGI? by fisheye1969 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I guess the graphics will be updated so much so that they won't look as fantastically "false" as they did originally. It was a subject so well suited to early CGI, that the new stuff doesn't cut it. Maybe this is one case where better CGI is actually worse?

    Will Jeff Bridges be in it?

  6. Disney product placement by SunFan · · Score: 2, Funny


    "Hey, this Frisbee brand disc really gives me the game I need to win! All kids should have one of these!"

    "This re-engergizing river takes just like crisp refreshing Sprite!"

    "Back home, I had a game on my Microsoft X-Box 2 that was just like this Tron bike race!"

    Hey, Disney, lay off for a while, so our kids can grow up!

    --
    -- Microsoft is the most expensive commodity operating system and office suite vendor in the marketplace.
  7. Enough with the remakes already! by OmegaBlac · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why don't they make a sequel? There is no reason to go back and muck around with a film that doesn't need mucking around with.

    1. Re:Enough with the remakes already! by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 2, Interesting

      They did make a sequel. Tron 2.0 is a video game... a quite good one, too. As far as the game's box and manual said, the video game *is* the official sanctioned sequel to the Tron movie.

  8. Tron by Skiron · · Score: 4, Funny

    For those that don't know, the film was named after the computer command 'Trace on' (as opposed to Troff).

    Looking at the current situation, will Disney call it Pr0n?

    1. Re:Tron by MalachiConstant · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Bzzt. It was short for elecTRONic. The filmakers didn't find out till later that it was also a real computer term.

  9. I hope the graphics are low-tech cool by tinrobot · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I loved Tron because they used really good design to overcome the extremely low-tech tools they had at their disposal. The result was a "inside the computer" world that looked computer-like.

    Now we have movies like The Matrix, where they go inside a computer and it looks like San Francisco.

    I hope the new Tron remake doesn't got too overboard and make things look too 'realistic.' I'm kind of sick of CGI that looks real. I have real every day.

  10. New plot by brandonY · · Score: 5, Funny

    The evil Computer P1R473Z are downloading the system's IP. Now, the brave and bold hero must digitize himself and take on the P1R473Z on their own turf. Without his lawyers, armed with only spam and pluck, our hero must contend with giant P2P tanks which shoot torrets of bits. Can our hero stop them before innocent set-builders and writers lose their jobs due to IP theft?

  11. Original Stories? by ackthpt · · Score: 2
    You sick sad monkeys. Leave it alone. Go remake one of your other crappy movies. Like oh...Snow White or Sleeping Beauty.

    How about doing orginal stories? Seems those have done fairly well, particularly for Pixar, which when well done lead the audience into uncharted territory and are far more interesting.

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  12. From Disney's Golden Period by scotay · · Score: 3, Funny

    These days, it may seem that Disney is nothing but crap merchants, but they used to have a quality period. Back in the days of The Black Hole, and The Barefoot Executive, Disney was known for quality dialog and compelling drama. A remake of Tron promises to rekindle the spirit of Disney quality in a whole new generation.

  13. Pixar involvement? by Christopher+Cashell · · Score: 2, Informative

    I know at one point I remember reading that this was being considered, and that Pixar might be involved. I recall that one of the high-up designers at Pixar said that Tron is the reason he got into the business, and that he'd love an opportunity to remake it.

    I dunno if that'll happen, but I think there's a good chance it would end up a much better flick if Pixar ran with it. I'd be very curious to see what they could do.

    --
    Topher
  14. Just Make a Reboot Movie by Erioll · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Reboot was a more "fun" idea of computers. Should just make THAT into a movie, rather than spoiling an old classic.

    I liked tron, but I can't see how they'll retain the "feel" of the original. I won't say it's impossible, but it just seems like they're setting people up for disappointment.

    Erioll

    1. Re:Just Make a Reboot Movie by isorox · · Score: 2, Funny

      reboot was a great program, have you played the game? It's installed on many computers, even servers, by default. You need to be root to play it in many cases though

  15. Syd Mead by payndz · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Just hope they keep Syd Mead's designs for all the original vehicles, or better yet, just hire the man himself to do updates. Mead's stuff rocks.

    It won't be Tron without light cycles, Recognizers and those nifty asymetric tanks!

    --
    You must think in Russian.
  16. Tron 2.0 the MOVIE by darkCanuck · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm confused. Hollywood Stock Exchange has been selling Tron 2.0 stock since September '99.

    That's 2.0, not a remake.

    They claim the director of Tron is writing the screenplay.

    I really hope the HSX is right. Especially since I bought 50,000 shares @ $4.29.

  17. Maybe they can call it . . . by fr2asbury · · Score: 2, Funny

    Tron Reloaded?

  18. I'm Looking Forward To It by TheFlyingGoat · · Score: 2, Informative

    I look at this a little differently than most of the posters so far. This could be absolutely terrible, which is a definite possibility given that Disney is doing it (without Pixar, for that matter :).

    However, if it does end up being good and have a halfway decent story, it will bring a story that many of us have enjoyed for a long time to a new generation of fans. How many kids out there do you know of that have watched Tron? What about Cloak and Dagger? D.A.R.Y.L? These are classic movies that most people won't see unless they're redone and released again in theaters.

    I'm looking forward to taking my niece to the movie, and having another 'geek' movie to watch with my wife (she LOVES LoTR). It's going to be tough to make it as good as the original, but I think that's fine as long as it's not completely awful.

    --
    You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. --Winston Churchill
  19. Watch out for the MCP by georgelucas · · Score: 2, Funny

    If i recall correctly the main problem faced by Tron was to defeat the dreaded MCP(Master Control Program). In Tron 2 or Tron "reloaded" as i will call it, tron will be faced with a new evil... The MCP(Microsoft Certified Professional). with his minimum salary being 60k + a year with no exp. he will be tough to stop!

  20. Microsoft sponsored and approved! by Wrexs0ul · · Score: 2, Funny

    When the credits list Clippy as a co-star you know we're in trouble:

    "It looks like you're trying to stop the evil chess program, would you like to..."

    I wonder if he'll be voiced by the same guy that did Jar-Jar.

    -Matt

    --
    --- Need web hosting?
  21. Yah, they should do Logan's Run by agent · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Yah, they should do Logan's Run
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074812/
    Did APC samples images for one their videos?
    http://www.aperfectcircle.com/
    Peace.
    - Yoshimi (employee 0)
    http://www.downhillbattle.org/

  22. plugs by phyruxus · · Score: 3, Informative
    >>Plugs for Disney partners will be throughout

    You know the scene where Tron is on that boat-like thing that rides the laser? if you watch the landscape you can see a GIANT mickey mouse head outlined. It's bigger than the screen; it moves from right to left and it's a lighter blue than the ground. It's just a big circle with two smaller circles but it's definitely mickey's profile.

    --
    "A witty saying proves nothing." ~Voltaire
    "d'Oh!" ~Homer
    1. Re:plugs by Andrewkov · · Score: 3, Informative

      On the Tron DVD, the director mentions this in the commentatry, he did it on his own as a thank-you to Disney for making the movie, it's not like Disney told him to do it.

  23. Ouch! by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Funny

    The possibility for product placements is unimaginable.

    "Doc, I've been having big headaches ever since my computer tried to suck me in and I smacked into ZoneAlarm. I immediately turned around, phoned a Gateway rep, and while very helpful, said I should talk to Verizon about the rogue worm that sucks people into mainframes. I mean, you can only imagine if I'd ended up in a Windows 2003 cluster. Thank goodness Cisco routers stand as a line of defense between me and the electroworld, dominated by evil Open Source communists."

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  24. Re:Maybe they can add some cheezy singing and musi by SuiteSisterMary · · Score: 2, Funny

    And don't forget a heroine who's a)drop dead gorgeous, b) possessed of a massive rack, and c) has at least one dead parent.

    --
    Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
  25. the other mouse by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I was at the biggest computer graphics lab in the world (NYIT/Westbury) at the time Tron was announced, instantly making us #2. Though Disney produced only a few cumulative minutes of digital FX for the movie, they launched the "CGI" industry which has served them so well since. I'd love to see them repeat that watershed event. Let's see them do something in distributed rendering that puts Toy Story back in its box. Or a revolution in the front end for animators communicating with the machines, HCI that makes the mouse, and even the stylus/tablet, look like a 20th Century relic. C'mon, Mickey, let's get it on!

    --

    --
    make install -not war

  26. But who better to remake it? by GMFTatsujin · · Score: 4, Funny

    The plot of Tron revolved around a monolithic corporate entity that absorbed intellectual property from sources all over the world, protected itself with a restrive and overpowered security model subject to hackers, destroyed the creative spirit of individuals, and twisted the vision of its creators to suit its own ends.

    If there's a studio more qualified than Disney to write that story, I don't know who it is.

  27. Yeah - MST3K Material by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 2, Interesting
    But, if there's a new one, I want to be the first to make a costume!

    BTW: Great job, guys.

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
  28. Not for kids -- for adults by chiph · · Score: 2, Insightful

    and we feel the film now has a chance to resonate with a young audience."

    Danger, Will Robinson!

    Brian Klugman, if you're lurking, take a page from the Pixar notebook, and write a movie that will appeal to adults. The kids will get it, really. They're a lot smarter than most people in Hollywood give them credit for.

    Chip H.

  29. The new Tron story by acb · · Score: 4, Funny

    In the new Tron, the Master Control Program is the good guy, and is besieged by shadowy terrorist pirates who wish to destroy it and replace its rights-management regime with open-source communism.

  30. Not man into hell, but god into earth. by Pike · · Score: 5, Insightful
    "In a lot of ways, ('Tron') was a movie about a man venturing into hell. Our job will be to keep the humanity as he ventures into an unreal world."

    Actually, in many more ways it was a movie about a god venturing incarnate into the world.

    "Do you believe in the users?"

    "Of course! I mean, if there are no users, then...who wrote me?"

    The oh-so transparent metaphors of atheism versus belief in a higher power are draped all over the movie.

  31. Tron 2 already exists... by gad_zuki! · · Score: 2, Informative

    in videogame form, which is slightly ironic. Its one of the best games I've played (although a tad difficult) on the PC and easily the best looking game I've played.

    The game is over a year old, so new video cards can easily handle it 1600x800.

    The game has a decent story and lots of Tron nostalgia. To me, the sequel will have to compare to the game more than the first movie.

  32. With "talent" like this, it has to be good by jalefkowit · · Score: 2, Informative

    I saw the names of the two writers credited with getting the screenplay gig, and figured I would look them up in IMDB to see what else they have written. That ought to be a pretty good predictor of what to expect, right?

    Well, here's the results:

    • Brian Klugman is an actor with mostly TV credits. He has exactly one screenplay credit: "Warrior", a perfectly awful-sounding historical war movie which isn't even due to be released until next year.
    • Lee Sternthal has no credits at all -- writing, acting, nothing. Oh wait, except for "Warrior", which he co-wrote with Klugman. So that's a big total of one.

    So Disney is hiring two writers with practically no experience to work on a property that has been dead for 20+ years. My guess is that you should not expect the finished product to rival the LoTR trilogy :-)

  33. Tron + LSD = Weird by HouseOfMisterE · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The first time that I saw Tron, I was on four hits of acid, the movie was recorded on a tape at LP (4 hour) speed, and the VCR only played SP (2 hour) speed. That was a crazy night...

  34. You can't "remake" a work of art by 192939495969798999 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Just like you can't "remake" the mona lisa into something better, just because acrylic paint came out, you can't "remake" TRON just because technology got better.

    "Sternthal told the trade paper that the new conceit is that the computer programmer gets trapped in a cyberworld, so that the film can utilize the Internet."

    That's not TRON. That has nothing to do with the movie TRON. If they call it TRON, they're retarded.

    --
    stuff |
  35. unusual amount of remakes, sequels, comic books, by walterbyrd · · Score: 2, Informative

    cartoons, and children books?

    Looks at what hollywood is churning out:

    - fat albert
    - fantastic four
    - electra
    - charly and the choclet factory
    - harry potter
    - flight of the phoenix
    - lord of the rings (?)
    - starwars (okay, prequel)
    - another spiderman
    - another batman
    - another blade
    - meet the fockers
    - polar express
    - lemony snickets
    - ocean's twelve
    - I Robot (?)

    Hardly a new idea anywhere. I guess there are a few original ideas, but there does seem to be a lot of re-hashing of old ideas.

  36. Re:Maybe they can add some cheezy singing and musi by Tibor+the+Hun · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Excuse me if I'm wrong, but no Disney heroine has a massive rack.
    Jasmine had a handful at best. Not that they're real.

    --
    If you don't know what AltaVista is (was), get off my lawn.
  37. Re:Tron was crap. by DLWormwood · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Tron was a movie about religion and just used the setting of inside a computer as a device to tell the story. It can basically be described as a tale of the coming of Jesus.

    You've nailed the underlying metaphor of the movie (the champion or messiah myth) almost spot on. There was a novelization of the movie released at that time that included more explict content related to the programs' religion. The only real difference between the user/program relationship and the god/worshipper relationship in Christianity is that Tron's world is explictly polytheistic. As such, a user is more of a "guardian angel" than a "god." This is actually closer to older forms of Judism that existed prior to Zorastranism, the ancient faith that heavily influenced the Christian duality of good and evil.

    Due to budgetary and technical constraints, the day-to-day life of programs in the Tron universe was only touched upon. The "live ones" that Flynn met in an online "city" was supposed to suggest the idea of a full-blown cyberciviliation that mirrored our own. The movie's producers even shot a bedroom love scene that had to be left out because it felt out of place given the superficial pacing of how the movie ended up. Also, the "derez" concept originally wasn't supposed to represent death per se, but resource deprevation, as the MCP drew most of the system's resources. Most programs had to do without energy and subroutines under the enforced "rationing." Flynn's absorbing of "red" energy from a warrior elite and the lighting up of the cyberworld at the very end of the film were a couple of the things remaining in the movie from this original concept.

    I better stop now; my geekiness over this movie is starting to frighten me.

    --
    Those who complain about affect & effect on /. should be disemvoweled