"Tron: Ares" Production Halted Amid Hollywood Strikes
Filmmaker Joachim Rønning has announced via Instagram that production for his forthcoming Disney movie, Tron: Ares, has been postponed due to strikes by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and SAG-AFTRA. Typically bustling with the energy of committed professionals, production has stumbled upon rocky terrain, leading to over 150 people being laid off, according to Rønning.
With the strikes currently looming as an indefinite obstacle, Rønning navigates the complexities of this predicament. He echoed the concerns of many within the industry when urging the WGA, SAG-AFTRA, and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) to step-up and accelerate the negotiation process.
In his recent post, the seasoned director chastised the lack of urgency exhibited by these industry tycoons, highlighting the daily losses felt not just by his team but potentially by the entire industry. Rønning stressed that it's time for these negotiation proceedings to be treated with urgency, offering the metaphor of Hollywood closing 'deals for breakfast'-a characteristically sharp jab at the current state of affairs.
Reports from Deadline indicate that production on Tron: Ares is only on pause until the guilds are back in action: Disney has not pulled the plug on the third installment of the Tron series. The WGA and AMPTP's talks ended last Friday, with plans to resume them shortly into this week. The WGA's Negotiating Committee is reportedly evaluating a recently received counterproposal from the AMPTP.
The highly anticipated Tron: Ares, features Jared Leto, Evan Peters, Greta Lee, Sarah Desjardins, Cameron Monaghan, and Jodie Turner-Smith. Penned by Jesse Wigutow and Jack Thorne, the third Tron movie follows Leto’s computer program character, Ares, on his journey through human and digital domains. Rønning added an intriguing twist to the ever-unfurling drama by indicating that Tron: Ares's central plot: exploring AI’s existential implications: is ironically, an undercurrent in the current labor disputes.
Rønning, famed for his Oscar-nominated movie Kon-Tiki and major Disney hits Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, closed his Instagram post by cautioning about unchecked AI progress and its potential threats to the creative industry.
So what does this say about our Hollywood? Or maybe, what does it say about how we handle innovation and labor rights in the entertainment industry?
Yes, strikes are absolutely very tough, especially for those who find themselves abruptly unemployed. But isn’t it ironic that these roadblocks appear while crafting a narrative built around the fine line between humans and artificial intelligence, or the digital world and reality? It’s almost poetic: a cruel sort of poetry.
And in the world of Hollywood, where deals are supposed to be as quickly devoured as a La Brea Bakery croissant, it's intriguing that swift resolution seems to be taking a backseat. It's a real hang up on Hollywood's usually well-oiled machine and it makes you wonder, is our love for narratives, character arcs, and happy endings blinding us to the not-so-cinematic grind that many in this industry face daily?
While we wait for the guilds and the AMPTP to decide on their next act, those of us on the sidelines can only hope for a fair resolution, just as Rønning does. And as the film in question intends to explore, maybe we should also contemplate what it 'takes to be human', not just in the face of AI, but also while negotiating labor rights. After all, isn’t empathy the most human trait of all?
